


Strange World

by VictorianGold



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abuse, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark, Denial of Feelings, Dom/sub Undertones, Drama, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fantasy, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Knotting, M/M, Marking, Mates, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Porn With Plot, Prostitution, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Scent Marking, True Mates, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:54:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23037409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictorianGold/pseuds/VictorianGold
Summary: After a run in with the armoured titan, Levi finds himself in a world that is not his own-- the only similarity being the strange man before him that looks and sounds a whole lot like Erwin Smith. This novella will include tropes such as: a dominant Alpha with a tragic past, but good intentions. An Omega with grit and smarts that learns how to love. And a fated mates story line that will be both smutty and sad... with a HEA!ON HIATUS: I APOLOGIZE. 2020 has a lot of people down in the dumps and inspiration is a tad hard to come by. The fic will be completed sometime in the (hopefully near) future -- I detest leaving things unfinished! (09/23/2020)
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 51
Kudos: 129





	1. A Jumping of Realms

**Author's Note:**

> HI to the person reading this!! I'm starting this new fanfic because it's more fun when there's less pressure to write! I am only taking on 2 characters this time (thank god) and it will probably end around 50k words. So welcome along on this smutty, angsty journey with me! 
> 
> Note 1: I can't commit to an upload schedule so chapters will come out whenever I can manage, but I'll do my best to be somewhat consistent :)
> 
> Note 2: THIS CHAPTER ESTABLISHES THE UNIVERSE... and it uses elements of the canon universe to make it happen, so please don't be mad at me!! I promise you that everyone in the scouts are doing fine and well.
> 
> Note 3: There are gonna be editing mistakes throughout (though hopefully not many) because striving for perfection takes a lot of the passion out of me :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALPHA/OMEGA UNIVERSE LAWS! (Do not read if you wanna just find out progressively though the story)!!!
> 
> Mating:
> 
> Must be done between and A and a O during either the A's rut **OR** the O's heat (or both). Ruts and heats occur in increments during the springtime, though they can also occur during other times of the year-- especially in Omegas under the influence of strong Alpha pheromones (or vise versa).
> 
> Bonding process:
> 
> Both parties must give the other a bond bite to form a mated pair and this can be done during any season, thought it generally happens in the springtime (when ruts and heats are most common). The desire 'bond bite' another individual *does not* normally increase during heats/ruts. While a bond bite exchange is required to form a pair, it is less about the physical act and the mark itself is not permanent. Rather, it is a catalyst for the intertwining of bonding pheromones. On the other hand, ordinary biting of the non-bonding variety is culturally viewed as a sign of ownership and is often done during sex... but the frequency really depends on the couple's tastes.
> 
> Mated Pairs:
> 
> Mated pairs can fuck other A/O's outside of their partnership. This does not happen often, but every partnership has their kinks (winky face). However, this also means leaves room for outsiders to force themselves onto an A/O without permission. While it is considered taboo to bed another's partner, this does not stop it from happening.
> 
> When a mate dies:
> 
> A new bond can be formed if a person's mate dies. Some choose to take another mate, but most do not due to the strength of their original bond.
> 
> Natural/Fated mates and their relation to the above categories:
> 
> ??????
> 
> DISCLAIMER: head's up folks, I'm feeling like this story is gonna get a bit dark and twisted... so git ur papcorn, grab a cola and strap in for it! Also I promise it will have a HEA!!

**Strange World**

**Chapter One: A Jumping of Realms**

**Levi~**

Levi rode hard alongside a large portion of the scouts division, though none were at his side at the moment. Most were on the flanks, defending the formation while he and a few other soldiers chose the direction of their movements. Further behind him was a unit of very nervous military police, completely and utterly out of their element. The kind of people that chose the MP’s desired the safety of the walls, they craved the familiar confines and lived with the disgusting smell of it, Levi could never understand that. However, their comfort didn’t matter for once-- getting Eren back from the titans was top priority for every Garrison. It was the only matter the three of them could seem to agree upon.

A few meters in front of him was Erwin, his blue eyes no doubt alit with fierce determination. He believed that Eren was their way to information and victory, he would rather die than see the kid taken by the enemy. How the man was able to ride so well while missing an arm was impressive to Levi, though he would never say as much. The commander didn’t need an ego boost from him, nor did he expect one. That was why their relationship worked so well. Erwin always seemed to know what was on his mind, so much so that Levi rarely had to speak. He liked that as well.

The commander began to slow his pace, pulling his black horse in close to Levi’s brown one. “That forest there,” he sternly commented, half-shouting as he pointed with his eyes to a cluster of tall trees ahead of them, swaying in the wind. 

Levi agreed, their targets were likely camped out in that forest. It was the largest one in the area and the titans were in rough shape, they would have needed some time to regenerate before embarking on the long trek to the edge of wall Maria.

“A good place to camp out,” Erwin remarked after noticing Levi’s expression. “You go and scout the fringes of it with Hange’s unit and-”

The earth suddenly shook, cutting the commander short. Levi’s eyes darted towards the source in the forest as horses whinnied around him and lightning shot down from the sky. Out of the graveyard of broken trees rose the colossal titan. Levi’s hand instantly shot to his flare gun, flicking the slider on instinct to the colour he wanted--  _ scatter. He needed all of their units to scatter, it was the safest option.  _ He fired off the command just as the lumbering creature hauled its gangling limb back, then swung forward, throwing something small towards them.

Whatever it was, it flew fast, like an arrow in the sky, it was suddenly above him. Time slowed. He could see the green grass quivering in the breeze. He could hear the blades swaying as if they were right next to his ears. A few meters in front of him, he saw Erwin pulling his horse back on the reins, his mouth forming a perfect  _ o,  _ as if he was about to shout something his way.

Levi frowned, then looked up.  _ The bastard from Eren’s cadet days… Reina… that was his name… he was about to hit him.  _ At first, Levi was confused, seeing Reina hovering, gliding towards him in slow motion. When he saw the titan flick his thumb over his silver ring, puncturing his skin mid-flight, and he knew exactly what was going to happen next.

He could almost hear the slicing of the wound on the man’s skin. Thunder cracked and a concentrated torrent of yellow lightning came down from the evening sky, falling upon them. Levi was suddenly engulfed in hot vapor, his body fully disintegrating in the mist. Then, something strange happened. What he figured was his soul was shot up with a billion different sparks of energy, bringing his body back. They were so cold that it felt hot on his skin and organs. They sliced through his veins like knives, painful and energizing all at once and he screamed out, every muscle in his body absolutely rigid. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed in that state of over-stimulation, but he was eventually relieved from it, the deafening sound of electricity silencing to nothing. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes as his muscles relaxed, his face calculating as he quickly glanced about. Around him was nothing but grey mist, twisting and turning, even beneath his feet. In front of him was… _ him. _

A complete copy of him in every visible way, almost as if he was looking in a mirror. It all felt like a dream, yet also real… perhaps surreal was the best way he could describe it. The twin before him was so uncanny that he, in his stupor, reached forward to touch the damn thing. Only, before he could, the double imitated him, touching their fingers together. 

The moment he felt the warmth of skin-on-skin, Levi’s eyes were blinded by white light. He squeezed them shut to block it out just as he began falling-- or so he assumed by the sudden lurch in his stomach. Luckily, he did not fall for long, but the ground was still unwelcome on his poor body. It had been through enough hell already. As he made an impact with the earth, he sucked in a harsh breath of air, completely winded. His vertigo was a mess and his body felt _wong_ , like his insides were squirming.

_ Get up,  _ he commanded himself, forcing himself up on his hands and knees, grimacing at the pain in his head. If he had survived the titan blast as so close a range, then maybe others had as well. He needed to move and find them, now. 

_ Erwin.  _

Levi’s eyes snapped open, remembering his commander’s close proximity. He would have gotten caught in the blast as well, there was no doubt in Levi’s mind. Ignoring his headache, he fought back the urge to vomit and clawed his way up to his feet. As he did so, his ODM gear fell to the ground, smashed from his harness during the fall, and so he reached down and quickly pulled forth a sword from the silver container. It wasn’t the most ideal circumstance, but the sword was at least some form of defense. He would rather a horse, though, but he would make it work.

Staggering on his feet, he moved his blurry gaze upwards and tried to take in his surroundings. He was in a forest, though he was pretty sure that it wasn’t the one that they had been on their way to scout. It was not as he remembered. The trees in this one were much smaller in height and a lighter shade of green.  _ Had the blast thrown his body? Could he be in some forest a few kilometers away? _

Levi turned his neck to the side and drew in a breath as his body was his with another heavy wave of nausea. He didn’t wait for it to pass, though, too ensnared by a bush of flowers to his left. They seemed to be completely unnatural, or at the very least, unlike anything he had ever encountered. The flowers seemed to be…  _ shifting in form and colour, dancing on their leaves. _

Levi shook his head, blinking once, then looking back to the flora for good measure.

_ They were definitely changing. He must have hit his head harder than he- _

Ahead of him, the forest suddenly stirred. His body naturally tensed, a result of his long career of fighting, and he assumed a guarded stance. Still, his pounding head was making it hard to focus and his natural instincts were not enough to compensate for it. He could hardly manage to stand up right. It felt like his brain was rattling around in his skull and his ears were beginning to ring.

He blinked again, holding his sword up as a blurry figure approached, extremely familiar and stopping a few meters in front of him.

“Erwin?” Levi asked, slurring as if he was drunk.  _ Had they both survived the blast? Where were they? _ “You’re-”

“How do you know my name?” Erwin asked quietly, seemingly on edge with a sword in hand.

Levi frowned, feeling more and more foggy by the second.  _ Was that a longsword? _ “Where are the others?” He tried to ask, confused by what his senses were telling him. He hated that he couldn’t, in his state, rely on them right now.

“You’ve had quite a fall, I would take a seat if I were you,” Erwin replied, cautious yet someone still warm and inviting. “Take it easy until you get your bearings.”

Levi felt like his head was bobbing around loosely on his neck, but he did his best to make his eyes focus on the man before him. 

_ Boots… Those are not… military… _

His gaze moved upwards, perplexed by the strange clothing. Then, he saw Erwin’s arm, or rather,  _ arms.  _ The man had two of them. 

Noticing that, his entire body instantly locked up and he raised his sword. “Who are-” He tried, but faltered when another wave of vertigo hit him, this time much harder. He stumbled forward, dropping his sword in favour of his head as he fell to the ground where darkness took him.

*******

When Levi awoke he found himself leaning up against a tree with his arms tied tightly behind his back. In front of him, not-Erwin poked at the wreckage of ODM equipment. Levi blinked, biting his tongue to try and distract from the renewed pain in his head.

“You’ve bounced back quicker than I expected you to,” not-Erwin said, looking to Levi and cocking his head to the side. “Careful, don’t move your head too fast in any direction or you’ll be spinning.”

Levi ignored the man, opting to instead focus on mentally containing his pain and nausea.

“You’re lucky that you didn’t fall from higher up,” not-Erwin continued, not even bothering to look Levi’s way any longer as he trifled through his things. “I’ve seen worse.”

Levi didn't hear the words. Instead, he kept his eyes closed and honed in on his mental prison, tossing the pain into its confines-- a skill he had picked up from fighting in the underground pits. The best way to win was to feel nothing, after all, everyone knew that.

“There’s a shallow cave nearby we will camp at, until you get your bearings,” not-Erwin continued, then paused and looked back to Levi. “You’re not very talkative, are you?”

That he had heard. If Levi wasn’t tied to a tree, in a confusing forest with a strange clone, he would have chuckled. He could claim to not be talking back because of his pain, or his confusion, but that simply wasn’t true. He  _ preferred  _ not to talk, not-Erwin was completely correct.

"Not particularly," he eventually replied, desiring to normalize the situation. He needed some answers and he wasn’t going to get any by ignoring his host.

Not-Erwin picked the sword Levi had drawn and curiously looked over its more mechanical design. "Interesting weapon," he remarked, seemingly impressed by the odd craftsmanship. "And it would seem that you know how to use it, when you’re in top shape, that is."

"Is that why I'm tied up?" Levi questioned, glancing over not-Erwin, trying to figure out just how much of the man was actually akin to real-Erwin. 

"Yes," not-Erwin looked at him, his eyes bright and slightly tired looking. “How did you know my name?”

Levi hesitated, though he did his best to keep it from his face-- not wanting to show his cards too early… Not that he himself  even knew what his cards were.

“I know someone like you,” he said, cautiously. “Looks like you, talks like you, but he’s different. My mistake.”

Erwin cocked an eyebrow, but remained humorous. While he laughed off the statement, Levi could tell that he was fairly curious about it.

He was also remarkably fixated on not-Erwin’s familiar features. Aside from the right amount of arms, the man crouched before him was almost identical to the Erwin he knew, even in his mannerisms… _ like his laugh. _ They shared the same infectious laugh.

Still, Levi reminded himself that this blonde man was not the Erwin he knew, so he best be cautious and use the similarities to his advantage.

"You know," the man began, dropping Levi’s sword to the earth and standing up to full height. "It's been a while since a human has fallen into our world. Lucky me, I guess."

Levi was taken aback.  _ He wasn’t the first to wind up in this place? _ Not-Erwin smirked at his dubious face, no doubt pleased to have finally gotten a reaction out of him. 

"If I'm human... then what are you?" He smartly countered, trying to piece together the puzzle of where the fuck he was and what the fuck was happening. He didn’t like not-Erwin being coy with him, it was unnerving and he had bigger things to worry about-- like getting back to the scouts.

"I'm an Alpha, not a human," not-Erwin replied, bending down and leaning into Levi's personal space. 

Instantly, Levi felt like he was suffocating under some invisible force, with the man so near him, he felt hot all over. He so very much wanted to regain their distance. The feeling that their close proximity had stirred within his chest was terrifying, not because it was painful in any way, but because it felt overwhelmingly foreign, much like his body did. It was an incomprehensible emotion, almost as if he wasn’t meant to have felt it yet. He knew for certain that he had never felt this way with the Erwin he knew, not that they often came in that close of range to each other.

_ Fuck _ . He could almost taste not-Erwin on his tongue and that was definitely not normal.

Not-Erwin studied his face for a moment, then sat back, much to Levi's relief, and began packing up the broken gear into a leather pack. "Well, I for sure don’t know who  _ you _ are," he paused, looking over Levi's figure, perhaps for good measure to fully ensure that they did not know each other.

“Levi.”

“Alright, Levi,” the Alpha continued and Levi felt a spur of electricity at the sound of his name on his lips. “And I would bet money on you becoming an Omega, by the way, with a small build like that."

Levi kept his face passive, but inside he was completely lost by the off-handed comment.  _ Was he dreaming? Was he dead? _ He really had no idea at this point. He had, however, gathered three things from his short conversation with not-Erwin. First, he was definitely not in Eldia anymore, that much was clear from the very existence of not-Erwin. Second, the people that lived in this place seemed to classify themselves as either Alpha or Omega, not human, though they looked like he did. From the basic information Levi retained about animals, he would staunchly disagree with not-Erwin on him being an Omega… His build was small, yes, but he was not one to be pushed around or trifled with. Which led to the third and final kernel of knowledge; if what not-Erwin said was correct, his body was going to mutate to accommodate the laws of the odd world he had found himself in. Judging by the way his innards felt and the way his skin felt like it was moving against his muscles, he figured that the third thing was probably true. 

Not that he really needed to pay much heed to what had been divulged to him. He was still leaning towards this whole thing being some weird fever dream while his body recovered from the titan attack. Regardless, he knew that he needed to cover all of his bases. He was here now and he needed to figure out some sort of strategy going forward, dream or otherwise.

"So what is your plan for me?" He asked the blonde man, keeping his tone level and disinterested.

Not-Erwin met his gaze tying his pack shut. “I’m going to take you with me to the blue woods. There is someone there... they might be able to help you.”

It was an obvious lie, but Levi didn’t push the matter further. He always knew when Erwin was hiding something, so it wasn’t very difficult to tell the same with not-Erwin. In his bones, he knew that the twin had a more sinister motive, but it wasn’t like he was just going to outright tell Levi if asked. Not yet, at least. Levi would no doubt find out in time, after building up a bit of trust between them, that had always been his way. He was eternally patient, waiting to strike from the shadows.

“How far is the blue wood?” He continued, wanting to have a timeline for things should he need to leave not-Erwin’s company before they arrived.

“Ten days or so, after you’ve recovered,” the Alpha replied, pulling the pack over his shoulders and stretching his arms up towards the blue sky. “The terrain isn’t bad, but others will be looking for you. Humans are precious cargo.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at that, but remained silent. He was starting to be able to see some subtle differences between not-Erwin and Erwin. He figured that not-Erwin harboured a similar darkness inside of him, hidden behind a casual facade and only noticeable when looking into the depths of their eyes. Levi knew for a fact that paternal shame, as well as curiosity for the titans, was what drove his commander. He wasn’t so sure if the same could be said of the man before him. If the world was indeed different, then the two of them would have very different experiences.

Still, the devil he knew was better than the devil he didn’t. He would stay with not-Erwin until he had a better grasp of his situation. When the time came for him to strike out on his own, he would easily do so and find a way back to his reality.

He didn’t care if it was some spirit journey to bring him back from the dead, or if he needed to find a literal way back to his world. He would find a way to make it happen. He just hoped that humanity would prevail in his absence… and that his comrades and underlings were alive and well.


	2. Cursed Mates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing as well as they can out there in these trying times <3
> 
> My love goes out to each and every one of you.

**Strange World**

**Chapter Two: Cursed Mates**

**Erwin~**

Erwin had a general idea of where the human was going to appear, Zackly’s witch had given him that much to go off of, much like she had in times past. He also knew that he wouldn't be the only one hunting the sly creature. They were rare. It had been three years since the last drop; Erwin had snagged up that human for the Syndicate, as well. The poor girl had fallen from such a height, seemingly out of the sky, just as they all did. When Erwin found her, her legs were broken in a horrible way. He did his best to keep her sedated for the trip back to the blue woods, to Zackly’s compound. On the few occasions she woke, her screams were panic inducing, so he had remained pretty vigilant with her doses. 

Erwin felt bad about snatching up humans and delivering them without question, sure, but he also owed Zackary a great debt. If he just reminded himself of that, he was able to tone down the moral dilemma it caused him. Rather, he viewed himself as a man atop a pile of bodies, almost pitying himself for doing the work he did. He knew what the witch used the human bodies for. He knew that she would scramble their insides and use every last bit of magic their blood had to offer. That was the way of their world...

He owed a debt. 

He would deliver this new human to the Syndicate, too.

Erwin looked up at the sky, the morning sun bright against his eyes. There were a few clouds, but from the rolling hillside that he currently sat upon, he would have no trouble seeing the human fall out of the sky. The creature would probably land in the forest beyond, and Erwin would be the first one to get there. Zackly’s witch was the best in the land.

And so, he waited. The morning ebbed into the afternoon and he stayed patient and fixated on his goal-- a strength of his that he utilized well.

As the evening began to set in, an unfamiliar chill ran up his spine. The witch was never wrong; the human appeared, seemingly out of thin air. Erwin hopped up to his feet and adjusted his pack against his broad shoulders. Then, he jogged towards the forest, blue eyes watching for potential threats as he moved towards the sound of rustling trees ahead of him.

_ Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with any broken limbs this time around... _

When he came upon the human, he did not stall; he was not one to hide in the shadows. Walking straight towards the small creature, he searched the surrounding area by scent for threats, but found none. As he grew near, the human came into better detail and he startled Erwin by pouncing to his feet like a defensive cat. 

Erwin narrowed his lids at the odd piece of metal in the small man’s hand. Curious, they locked eyes and Erwin sucked innate painful breath. He felt a surge of energy burst through his body, lighting him up with emotions that he couldn’t even fathom before that moment. It was pure, unadulterated instinctual pressure he was feeling. He clenched his fists, his body rocking with another wave of it, crashing over him like a tsunami. He knew his eyes had gone black and his scent heavy and thick with Alphadom. 

Looking to the human again, a chill ran up his spine, this one lighting up his senses like matches. The human's scent, too mild to pick up on from such a far distance, coiled into his nostrils and he clenched his teeth. The change was already upon the human; he would undoubtedly be an Omega.

_ His natural mate… _

_ No! _

Erwin wanted to vomit, feeling such pleasure for the small creature before him felt wrong on a conscious level. He already  _ had  _ a mate. He knew what happened on the rare chance that natural mates found one another… previous mates… previous families, they would slowly be forgotten and abandoned. There was no room for two mates, and natural mates trumped all other bonds. The instinctual tether it held was too great to break, and it decimated things in its path. 

Erwin didn’t want to forget-- he couldn’t. After everything that had happened to his family, he owed it to their departed souls to keep their memory alive. It was the only thing he had left… the only thing that kept him going.

Then and there, he decided that he would not even entertain the proposition fate held over him. Memories of his beautiful Omega and of his son were the last vestiges of his soul that he dared not lose.

"Erwin?" 

The word echoed into Erwin’s ears and he looked up, taking in the human’s exhausted face. 

A tinge of pleasure ran up his spine and he shoved it away with all his might.  _ How the fuck did this sky creature know his name? _ It was unnerving… he must have misheard. He must have.

For good measure he asked, "how do you know my name?"

The human grew pale and Erwin felt a rush of adrenaline, seeing his natural mate in such a bad state.

_ Was the human feeling their tether like he was? No… _

The small man’s body didn't have all of the necessary Omega components, not yet. It was impossible. He didn’t even have the capacity of smell yet, he had only  _ just _ fallen from the sky.

Suddenly, Erwin’s frantic thoughts were halted when the human stumbled forward, his pale face grimacing as he hit the hard earth. Erwin took a large step forward out of instinct, but quickly grounded his heel against the dirt to stop himself. 

Still, he couldn’t keep from vocalizing his fears. "You should really take a seat, gather yourself," he remarked, trying to keep things casual, but there was still a quake in his voice.

By the looks of the human's grip on his strange weapon and his attempted stance, he was skilled with a blade. Erwin didn’t want to agitate the omega any more than he already had, lest he hurt himself. He also figured, in that moment, that there might be a way to get the sky creature in and out of his life with minimal stress; a way to break the tether between them. If he got the small man to Zackly before the change occurred, he might be able to escape before the bond had a chance to form in both parties. If he was to go by the rumors, it often took months before the full change occurred… he had time.

Granted, Erwin didn’t know if all of this would work, but he needed to try  _ something.  _ He couldn’t just sit around. He could make the journey in two weeks if they traveled fast. He would need two days to supply his pack for the journey back to the blue woods. The human would do well with a few days of rest-

_ The human.  _

Erwin lurched forward all at once, then froze, his hands mere inches away from the smaller man’s body. His insides twisted, his inner Alpha disgusted by his inattention to their mate.

He needed to get a better grip on his reality before the sky creature awoke.

***

By the time the human came to, some thirty minutes later, Erwin had a better handle on his instincts. He had searched the surrounding forest for threats, all the while minding where the soon-to-be Omega was. His instincts seemed satiated by the action and soon after they coiled back into their mental jar. Then, Erwin snapped the lid shut by conjuring vivid memories of his family.

It was a combination carrot-stick method. He quickly learned that he could lull his instincts into submission by giving them something they wanted… then bring the hammer down with his conscious emotions; his love for his mate and the life they had shared.

Feeling more confident about his grip on his inner Alpha, he moved towards the human’s mangled gear, no longer fearing the scent that it held. Next to him, the small man stirred and Erwin took in a breath to steady himself. He just needed to keep things casual. He had always been good at that-- being a likable acquaintance.

“You’ve bounced back quicker than I expected you to,” he remarked, looking to Levi and cocking his head to the side. “Careful, don’t move your head too fast in any direction or you’ll be spinning.”

God, he looked absolutely haggard. He was also not Erwin’s type whatsoever. He had always been partial to females… the universe had to have made a mistake with all of this. It was just a test, it had to be.

“You’re lucky that you didn’t fall from higher up,” he said with a cough, commenting on his instinctual fears in an extremely roundabout manner. “I’ve seen worse.”

Eventually, after nearly a minute of silence, Erwin hazarded a glance towards the sky creature. Again, his stomach lurched at the state of the small man, but he was also pleased to see that he was fighting against his pain with all of his might.

There was no doubt in his mind that the human was trained in combat, well-trained at that.

“There’s a shallow cave nearby we will camp at, until you get your bearings,” Erwin continued, then paused and regrettably looked back to Levi, feeling more electricity spark up in his system. “You’re not very talkative, are you?” He muttered out, trying to use humour as some sort of coping mechanism for his inner toil.

"Not particularly," the human eventually quipped back and Erwin felt like he was drowning in honey. He  _ loved  _ the sound of the man’s voice and something deep down told him that the human didn’t share it very often. He liked the thought of that, that he would be the one to hear it most.

As soon as that thought came and went, he stiffened and took a deep breath to calm himself again, trying to keep the act subtle so as not to give away anything to the human. Erwin had a feeling he was extremely perceptible-- though sluggish, he seemed almost catlike in his movements. 

Picking up the strange weapon, asleep in the grass between them, Erwin looked over it with keen eyes. He had seen some strange contraptions in his day, the world in which the sky creatures came from was obviously very different from his own. Most of the time, he pawned off their items to curious scholars. 

"Interesting weapon," he expressed, not yet realizing that he was speaking out loud. “And it would seem that you know how to use it. When you’re in top shape, that is."

"Is that why I'm tied up?" The human quipped back, startling Erwin.

"Yes," Erwin said, feeling suddenly heavy. It was going to be a long two weeks, if it was already this hard to battle against their tether. Then, the curious question popped back into his mind and he spoke, like word vomit. “How did you know my name?”

The human’s face was incredibly difficult to read and his scent too mild and too human for Erwin to use at the moment. He wondered just what the man was thinking, then shrugged it off, knowing that it would be better to not think such things.

“I know someone like you,” the sky creature cautioned, his black eyes narrow. “Looks like you, talks like you, but he’s different. My mistake.”

Erwin cocked an eyebrow, he would take that answer at face value for now. Plus, he kind of wanted to believe it to be true. He didn’t want any more “fate” intervention. He wasn’t even sure if he could handle it.

Glancing over the human once more, he gave the man a curt nod in reply. Now that he was past the initial shock of things, there were a lot of appealing features on the man that he had not noticed before. The porcelain skin, the dark hair and hard jaw were not things that Erwin had even considered as being appealing, and yet now, when all of these things were put together in the creature before him, it was almost too irresistible. It was as if he didn’t want to look, lest he ruin the perfection, and yet each time he  _ did  _ look, it only got better.

"You know," Erwin finally said, dropping the peculiar sword to the earth next to the strange wires and silver box. Then, he stood up, towering over the smaller man. "It's been a while since a human has fallen into our world. Lucky me, I guess."

That got a reaction out of the human, one that was plain to see. It was not hard for Erwin to figure out a good pressure point to use-- he had yet to come across a human that had willingly crossed over. All of them had been confused about the entire ordeal, and Erwin didn’t really have any answers to give them anyways. 

"If I'm human... then what are you?" The man asked and Erwin could see the cogs turning behind his dark eyes.

"I'm an Alpha, not a human," Erwin replied, bending down on one knee in front of the sky creature. This time, he made sure to keep his mind at task, wanting to get a better smell of the human on a conscious level to better be able to locate him once they started moving. After he was finished mapping the fragrance, he moved back to his pack, laying against a nearby tree. As he secured its contents, he did another scent sweep of the forest, growing anxious to leave. Though mild, the human’s scent had stirred his instincts again.

"Well, I for sure don’t know who  _ you _ are," he said, swinging the pack over his shoulder. Then, he narrowed his eyes at the human in a theatrical display, just to reiterate that they did not, in fact, know each other.

“Levi.”

Short and to the point, the human’s personality seemed more prone to actions than words. Erwin briefly wondered what it was that had made the man this way, then crushed the notion into oblivion.

“Alright, Levi,” he replied, watching as the smaller man carefully rose to shaky feet. He was so small and fragile looking, even for an Omega, he would be small. As was the case with most humans, or so Erwin figured. He never stuck around long enough to see the full change in them. “And I would bet money on you becoming an Omega, by the way, with a small build like that," he continued, vocalizing his thoughts without thinking.

There was a long pause, half-way through which Erwin realized that he could actually smell the human thinking.

"So what is your plan for me?" Levi asked at last, his tone seemingly disinterested.

He was obviously good at adapting… and in keeping his emotions under control.

“I’m going to take you with me to the blue woods,” Erwin replied, tying up a stray pocket of his pack and jerking his head southward. Then, he stated the same lie he had been telling humans for the last fifteen years. “There is someone there... they might be able to help you.”

“How far is the blue wood?” Levi questioned, and Erwin didn’t see any reason to lie. Speed up the timeline, perhaps, but not lie. Indeed he was starting to think it would be best to cut the trip even shorter, given his visceral reactions to the small man.

“Ten days or so, after you’ve recovered,” he asserted, both to himself and to Levi. Then, he stretched up to alleviate some of the tension in his shoulders. “The terrain isn’t bad, but others will be looking for you. Humans are precious cargo.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at that, but remained silent.

“You seem capable,” Erwin stated with a shrug, firmly believing the words. “Makes sense for you to know the dangers we face ahead.”

He fully expected the human to ask the usual question;  _ but how do I know I can trust you?  _ Yet it never came. Levi already seemed fully aware that he could not trust Erwin, nor did he intend to in the future. Erwin couldn’t fault him for this, though his instincts greatly disliked the lack of faith in him as an Alpha. Still, he reminded himself that there was no reason for the sky creature to trust him, anyways. He  _ was  _ going to betray him.

“A few miles ahead there is a safehouse for us to use while we stock up,” Erwin mentioned, walking a few paces ahead. “It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to-”

“Good,” Levi interrupted, falling in pace behind him. Erwin could tell by his dragging steps that he was beyond exhausted. He hated it. “I need a bit of time to recuperate.”

_ Okay, _ now there was no doubt in Erwin’s mind that the human had some form of military training. He had to. He was all too aware of his surroundings and capabilities to not be.  _ Did they even have militaries in the sky world? _ Admittedly, Erwin hadn’t really spoken with his human wards. Most of the time he had kept them sedated. He would do the same to Levi if he caused any future trouble. For now, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  
  



	3. Bodies Can Change [dontcha know]

**Chapter Three: Bodies Can Change [dontcha know]**

**Levi~**

As Levi followed Erwin through the dense forest, he took in his surroundings from a comfortable mental fog. He was accustomed to it, like a blanket it protected him from extreme emotion. He wasn't sure if he was born with such a gift, or if it was thrust upon him by the world of terror he had been raised in. Regardless, it made him a lethal warrior and a steadfast captain. There was no room for emotion in his line of work, even his thoughts of returning to whence he came were on the back burner. He knew they were there, but it did no good to think about them right now.

Sometimes, though, his comfortable fog slipped up, as it had with Petra. Levi had felt _that_ , _reeeeally_ felt that. He much preferred the fog.

They had been walking for some time, winding and weaving through the dense forest of pines, both tall and short. Levi wanted to ask the Alpha- _Erwin,_ more questions of where they were going and of the surrounding area. In particular, he wanted to ensure that titans did _not_ exist in this strange world, though he was fairly certain that was the case anyways. Learning to turn off his titan brain was going to be a bit touch and go for a while. He had never known a world without them, he dared not even dream of it.

After another half-hour of silence, as the sun began to fade into evening, Erwin lessened his pace and Levi's eyes narrowed upon the Alpha's broad back.

"Something I should know?" He asked the man, his tone low. Perhaps there was something ahead of them that he could not perceive… This version of Erwin definitely had heightened senses compared to regular humans. Either way, Levi wanted to know why they had slowed the pace.

Erwin gave Levi a lazy, questioning glance over his shoulder. "You're struggling to keep up."

Levi grimaced, knowing that Erwin would not catch it in his sights, already having turned his head.

"Yes," Levi conceded, his voice calculating. It was useless to lie about such a thing, survival was about knowing your limits and working with them. Although, he _had_ figured that he was hiding the waves nausea and aches fairly well… he must have been wrong.

"We are not far off," Erwin said, pushing through the brush. "Then you can eat and rest."

Levi stepped in behind the man, glad for the promise of "eat and rest." The coarse leaves scratched at the dusty fabric of his shirt as he pushed through the brush. He felt his pants tear against a stray brash, lashing against his dirty skin-

_Di…_

_Dir…_

_Dirty…_

Suddenly, the notion dawned upon him and he felt a familiar panic set in. It was one of the only aspects of his life that he had complete control over. 

But right now he was filthy. His gear was in shambles, stored in Erwin's travel bag, and his hands were bloody, as scratched up as his body was, opening him up to disease and rot and... 

_No._

This wasn't right. He should not be panicking over something so stupid right now. He was still fighting a war of sorts, though he knew not the enemy in this world, his situation remained the same…

War was dirty. War was rot. He understood that fact better than anyone.

He would do whatever it took to win here, too. He just needed to figure out what winning here looked like.

Levi sighed to himself, feeling the familiar fog wash over him once more as he collected his previously frantic thoughts. He pushed through the last of the brush, stepping in close to Erwin as warm evening sunlight hit him. 

The scene before him was beautiful-- Levi did not often get to stand around and admire outside-of-the-walls landscapes, so he took pause for a moment. 

Half a mile ahead of them, at the far edge of the clearing stood a small cabin. The forest beyond swayed, the noise of the shifting pine needles reaching Levi's ears. With the sun setting, a cluster of light flickered on the horizon-- likely indicating a settlement a little ways off. He wondered if it would be the same as the towns he knew.

Thinking about home, he inhaled, smelling pine and bringing forth memories of the scouts and the clean air beyond the walls.

"Safe house," Erwin said pointedly, almost proudly, as if showing off some grand design when in reality it was just your run-of-the-mill, shoddy-looking cabin. 

Then, the Alpha's voice lowered, his throat vibrating-- the sound firing off sparks of energy in Levi's stomach that he did not want nor completely understand. "I will boil you water for a bath right away," Erwin said, almost as if he was angry with Levi's appearance. Angry… or frustrated in some way.

Levi raised an eyebrow at that curiosity and started down the hill towards the rustic cabin, happy that the architecture was similar to what he was used to. "I would appreciate that," he remarked, then nearly stumbled over when a wave of nausea washed over him, followed by a wringing ache in his bones. He brought a hand to his mouth, tasting stomach acid on his tongue.

This pang was worse than the others before it. He felt his toes curl up in his boots and his knees locked, as if fused in place by his AWOL brain. His stomach heaved once but nothing came up.

He heaved again, this time retching violently forward, then swaying back. Every inch of his body suddenly lit up as if ignited like a match and he clenched his teeth, nearly biting through his tongue. Finally, all energy drained from his body. He felt different. He felt wrong, like his body was no longer built the same anymore.

Well, whatever the snap of pain had been, he didn't even have the will power to take another step.

He should probably-

_Darkness._

**Erwin~**

Erwin caught the human before he fell flat on his face and broke his nose. It was lucky, though Erwin didn't feel that way because of the sparks of lustful energy that shot through his hands at contact. He did his best to ignore them, but they were provoking him to such a degree that he didn't want to meddle more than he had to.

He sighed.

No choice.

Pulling the smaller man against his chest, Erwin carried him across the meek threshold of the safe house and quickly deposited him on a nearby bed against the corner of the building.

The place was only one large room, which Erwin was not looking forward to sharing for a few days…

It had been hard enough the last few hours, but trapped together like this for such a long time? He was going to have to do a lot of patrolling as an excuse to get out of the house. Could he maybe sleep in the forest…?

Erwin occupied his mind as best he could, musing over countermeasures to keep back the gnawing feeling of instinct. As he did so, he reached down, placing a gentle hand on Levi's forehead to ensure his temperature had not spiked too high. Thankfully, it had not, and he was relieved in more ways than he liked to admit. He had seen enough human transformations to know that the first stage-- the first two days or so-- were the most difficult. The body always seemed to manage through it, at least in his experience, but it was not without pain.

Levi muttered something, his face scouring into a grimace and Erwin's mind briefly flickered to curiosity. Then, he banished the notion and got to work setting up the place--lighting the hearth and making up the second bed on the other side of the room for him to later sleep in.

The human was still a human, which meant there were others who would want him. As much as Erwin wanted to sleep in the forest, for the safety of the… _package_ , he should sleep in close range. He needed to make the delivery as easy for himself as he could.

After the hearth had grown to a decent size, becoming self-sufficient for a few hours at least, Erwin set his sights on the copper bath, near the fire and behind a once ornate wooden screen. It took nearly thirty minutes for him to get enough water together from the nearest creek to boil for a bath, but he was almost happy with the task. He figured that it was better to have Levi in good health and condition-- and his instincts happy and quiet-- than to have them angry and bombastic about treating his "natural mate" so poorly. The former seemed easier to deal with.

He took fifteen minutes to prepare a plate of food for the human as the bath cooled a bit. It wasn't much, small rations of cured meat and dried fruit from his travel stores, but it would be enough to give the tiny creature a bit of strength.

"You carried me here," Levi's voice carried across the room, neither question nor regret seemed present in his voice or scent. He seemed so far away all the time, something which Erwin was growing accustomed to. He wondered if the Omega scent would become prevalent, or if it would keep to the nature of the human.

He wasn't planning on being around long enough to find out.

"Yeah you nearly took a little tumble down the hill, almost broke your nose like that one girl Jill," he replied with a smile, unknowingly relieved that Levi had come to. Then, laughed to himself. "Hey that rhymed."

"You have that folk tale here, too?" Levi asked, sitting up on the edge of the bed with a nearly imperceptible groan. Erwin's instincts revved up again, alerting him to his Omega's regrettable state, but he instantly conjured an image of his late wife to hold them back.

"Jack and Jill, with the water?" He replied, setting the plate down on a carved high table, within reach of the bath-- preparing to make some sort of an exit.

"Yeah," Levi said with a nod. "I don't think she broke her nose though."

"I think you're right-"

"What's happening to me?" Levi said outright, catching Erwin off-guard. The human seemed to have a high degree of social awareness, but often lacked the motivation to use it. 

Erwin found himself feeling the need to be overly casual in return. "You're becoming an Omega," he answered with a shrug. "Humans are not meant for this world, so they are changed to accommodate its laws."

"How long?"

"The worst of it will be done in a few days."

"And after that?"

Erwin hummed, thumbing over his chin. "The body changes quickly, but the hormone balancing takes longer," he said, giving Levi the very little knowledge he had on the subject. Granted, it was more than most. "I hear they can take months to balance completely."

Levi leaned back on his elbows, looking up into the rafters of the house and Erwin gulped, seeing the milky skin of the man's exposed neck. An innocent act, but a sign of submission that Erwin could not make himself ignore.

His cock instantly hardened against the tough fabric of his pants as if something had suddenly snapped inside of his brain. His mind threw up images of him wrapping his hands around the delicate flesh of the Omega's neck… commanding eye contact and respect and he rammed into his warm-

_Ok that's enough of that!!_

Erwin shook his head, feeling his eyes glaze over with inky black as the full force of his instincts crashed down on him.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuck._

He started towards the door, shielding his sight from Levi with a hand like a visor. Not at all inconspicuous, but who was he to care? One more glance at Levi's casually arched spine would have him losing control altogether.

"Baths-warm-food-is-there," he sputtered out, reaching for the shoddy door handle and swinging the door open with comedic force. "Getting-firewood-back-later.don't.leave."

Should he have clarified how much later? Yes. Did he know the answer himself? No. Was the human going to try and run away on him? Didn't think so, but Erwin would be in close enough range to know.

In reality, the only thing on his mind right now was relieving his swollen cock. The desire to breed was overwhelming, almost as if he was entering a rut.

With half a mind, he snagged up a heavy axe from the nearby wood pen and moved towards the forest-- feeling the predator inside of him ooze out with each step.

_Breed. Breed. Breed._

Maybe he would bring back more than just wood. Something that would keep the Omega better fed. Something more hearty.

The sun had nearly set, not that Erwin cared. He reached the edge of the forest, slipping behind a dense cluster of trees and ditching his axe in the tall grass. His throat rumbled and he felt the muscles in his back tense, as if they were getting ready for some strenuous activity. He tugged at his pants and drew out his pulsing cock. The head was oozing precum, ready to burst at any moment. With one hand against a tree trunk for support, he grabbed at his member and closed his eyes. His mouth was salivating, his taste buds eager to know what Levi's skin tasted of… what kind of sounds the sullen creature made when his knot swelled-

_Mariana._

_No. Think of Mariana._ Erwin clenched his teeth, forcing in mental images of his Omega's supple breasts, the curve of her hips, the hints of freckles that lined her sun-kissed face. He thought of her licking his cock on her knees, how her thick lips wrapped around him so-

_Relief._

Relief crashed over him as he spilled his seed, much more than usual, with a snarl. His hand clenched against the tree, tearing into the bark as his body tensed and untensed itself.

That had been close. He had won the battle, but only just, and it was the first of many. He could still see his wife in his mind's eyes-- still conjure her beauty. But for how long?

Fuck.

Fuck! He didn't want to think about any of this mess right now.

Guess it was the perfect time to go chop a lot of wood. Whoever in the Syndicate used the safehouse next would be happy for the supply he was about to bring back.

**Levi~**

The moment the door shut behind Erwin the room around Levi felt lighter. Not necessarily in a good way, it was just different. He couldn't quite place why, but he still made a note of it.

_Omega..._

_But what is an Omega?_

Levi had seen the black eyes, swirling with raw emotion that he preferred to shy away from. Erwin, the one from Levi's world, was always terrible at hiding things from him. The Alpha version of him seemed no different.

 _Were the black eyes representative of a loss of control?_ It certainly seemed so, but what could have sparked it?

Groaning through another round of aching bones, Levi rose up on shaky feet and moved toward the bath. He dipped a hand in the water, watching as the dirt slipped away from his fingertips. The edges of his sleeve dampened, but he didn't care-- too intoxicated with the idea of being clean. He would be able to think more clearly.

He shed his clothing, folding it neatly and placing the articles in a near pile at the foot of the tub. He would need to wash them before he dared putting them back on again-

 _Wait._ What was he supposed to wear in the meantime? His body shivered, naked as he looked around the cabin for something, _anything_ to cover himself with. The best he found was a rather large pair of cloth pants.

_That would do, for the time being._

Levi bit his lip though his aches and stepped towards the tub. He dipped down into the water, its warmth soothing his body all at once. Raising his ankle above the edge of the tub, his eyes narrowed as he examined it, a look of disgust passing over his face. It was swollen, likely sprained from the fall. He wished his body was more sturdy. He always had.

Sturdy like an Alpha.

_But what is an Omega?_

Erwin had said that Levi was 'sure to turn into one'... or something like that.

 _Alpha…_ The strongest. The dominant. At least, by the rules of his world, that's what they were. Was that what they were here, too?

Levi thought of Erwin the Alpha. He was large, larger than the Erwin he knew, with lean muscle that were also matured in their strength. Levi supposed that he would qualify as an "Alpha" by those standards, but there had to be more to it than that...

He chuckled to himself. If Omegas were the weakest class around these parts, then this world would treat him no differently than his own. He had been considered weak his whole life. People underestimated him because of his stature.

He could be an Omega... It could almost be seen as an advantage, for someone with his skillset. Sometimes, it was good to be underestimated, so long as one had the mentality of a hunter.

_He could be an Omega._

Outside, the sun had set, basking the cabin in the glow of firelight. Levi began to scrub at his body, gently, for large areas of his body felt bruised from the fall. His mind was turning with questions and missing pieces. He felt more like himself, aside from the whole… his body not feeling like his body anymore… thing.

He didn't want to give that any attention, though. He was informed that his body was going to change and that it would be painful. Now it was happening. That was all there was to it right now. Going off of Erwin's form, it seemed like most of his bodily functions and his exterior would remain relatively the same.

What he really needed to do was figure out Erwin's motives.

Figure out a way to survive this world without help.

Figure out how he had gotten there in the first place.

Levi sighed, deep and heavy, slicking his hair back with water. He was never one for smoking, but right now he could really use a cigarette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!!! It's like 4am so I'll check back in the morning but for nooooooow, here's a new chap.
> 
> Starting next chapter we can finally start to ramp up with some smut and suspense! Thanks so much for reading <3 gotta love that BL


	4. Frustrations Amok

**Strange World Chapter Four: Frustrations Amok**

**Erwin~**

By the time Erwin had decided to retire for the night, he was beyond exhausted. He had patrolled the surrounding woods three times, all the while telling himself that it wasn’t time-wasting overkill, but rather for good measure. His Alpha scent was strong, smelling it would ward off many that came across it. That would be enough for the night. 

He had also made not one, not two, but six trips back to the cabin, carting chopped wood against his back. Safe to say he was not only physically depleted, he was also mentally drained by his instincts-- they had been wanting to check back in on the Omega for hours now. He was grateful that they had quietened in the last little while. Perhaps, his mind was finally too hazy from exhaustion to be provoked by the sleeping human.

He certainly hoped so, at least, because pushing his body to such a degree was not smart if he wanted to deliver the creature safely. He was not in the best shape to fight, at the moment, so all of this had better be worth it for a good night of sleep. 

He cut his musings short as he pushed into the cabin, pausing on the threshold to test the waters. When his instincts stayed quiet, he tossed a log on the hearth, readying it for the night.

Noticing Levi's dirty clothing, he pulled out a set of the least colorful clothes he could find-- luckily, they belonged to an Omega... coworker of his. He scented them, gently rubbed them against the soft skin of his neck as he took a final glance out the window of the cabin-- ensuring that he couldn't see any immediate threats. Satisfied, he refolded the clothes and placed them on a dresser sitting across the room, near Levi's sleeping figure. Finally, Erwin walked lazily across the room, too tired to even think. He sat down on his bed, his head in his hands as he rubbed his tired face. He could feel stubble starting to set in, he would need to shave at some point-- unable to grow a full beard with his fair complexion, he didn’t much like the idea of letting it go.

The mattress he was about to sleep on wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t too terrible, either. He had slept on it a few times before, during other, non-human related missions. It was also long enough in size to accommodate his height, which he liked. With that in mind, he kicked off his boots and slipped off his overshirt. Placing them on the dusty end table, he then undid his belt and stripped down to the rest of his underclothes. Then, he slipped beneath the sheets-- light ones, due to the hot summer. Sighing, he turned on his side and closed his eyes.

_Tomorrow, he would go and get supplies from Trident for their journey. Maybe, if the human was up for it, they could leave earlier than expected._

After the thought came and went, sleep took him almost immediately.

***

Erwin woke sometime before dawn, his white underclothes stuck to his skin with sweat. He couldn’t remember what he had been dreaming before his rude awakening. All his brain could verify the enticing scent in the air and his cock, aching for release. Immediately, he sat up on the edge of his bed and his eyes snapped to the human. Levi’s form, across the room, was barely visible in the low light of the hearth. It took everything Erwin had to stay seated, his muscles locked into place by sheer mental will.

It was obvious where the scent was coming from, but Erwin didn’t understand why it was suddenly so strong-- enough to pull him out of a deep state of sleep. His mouth began to salivate and he continued to inhale it, naturally starting to take in larger breaths of air-- until he felt absolutely starved for the scent. His blue eyes glazed over, inky black yet retaining their glint in the firelight. He could feel his body becoming more animal by the second, not necessarily in form but in nature.

The Omega was absolutely oozing arousal. His scent was dripping with lust, and traces of human, but the Omega component was full-bodied enough from Erwin’s perspective. It was almost taunting him, daring him to concede to it.

He would do no such thing.

Immediately, he moved to the nearest window and propped it open to stick his head out. Taking a few breaths, he steadied himself, his cock straining against the waistband of his underclothes.

_Take another breath, and…_

_Go!_

He pulled his head back, his nostrils instantly filling with Levi’s overbearing scent. Erwin’s throat began to rumble, but he forced his body towards the door and stepped through, closing it as gently as he could behind him. Then, he stumbled towards the side of the cabin, the side furthest from the stupid, hormonal human, and began to furiously stoke himself. His mind was too tired to fight back as his instincts coiled forward all at once, conjuring up imaginings of Levi naked and writhing beneath him.

Erwin didn’t even understand why such a person was so appealing to him-- why fate thought that human was meant to be his. Body aside, Levi was showing no signs of being submissive thus far. Submissive on purpose maybe, but never genuinely submissive. Erwin didn’t even know how to go about dealing with such a wily mate. Omegas just weren’t like that. They weren’t even meant to be like that. They were meant to be soft and supple and pliable-- Mariana had been like that. She would moan for his touch and obey him when he told her to present herself...

Erwin’s breathing began to increase and his grip strengthened on his cock as Mariana’s image strengthened. Then, an unwanted thought of Levi slipped back into his brain. Thinking of the challenge of making such a stalwart, quiet Omega moan for him… a sinister grin passed over Erwin’s face and he snarled-- animalistic actions that were not of his choosing.

_Why the fuck were his instincts doing this?!_

_The human was in a damaged state!_ These were not the normal desires of something that genuinely cared for its Omega. Levi was small. Muscular, yes, but small in comparison to Erwin’s wide frame...

_We would be careful, gentle even._

Erwin hissed as the instinctual reply to his prodding washed over him, then hitting him with waves of images; soft caresses shared between them, skin rubbing against skin, the way Levi’s hard chest might taste on his tongue…

Some version of an imaginary Levi was clenching his toes in the sheets as Erwin licked his hole-- his jaw wet with the Omega’s sweet slick. Erwin could almost hear the human’s shy panting as his tongue explored deeper-- he wanted so badly for it to be real in that moment. 

_Levi’s face hot and red and shamefully hidden from sight..._

Erwin snarled to himself, giving all of his remaining energy to conjuring up _anything_ he could of his wife, but couldn’t seem to grasp at specifics. He could see her sensual face, yes, and yet, he couldn’t think of any instance in which she had _actually_ looked at him like that.

When he finally managed to grasp at one-- of her riding him in their bed in the morning light-- Levi’s figure forced its way back into his brain. Erwin shook his head, but the human image dispersed all traces of Mariana, leaving only him for Erwin to think of.

Levi arched towards the imaginary covers, his small ass wet with slick and presented... Erwin’s cock pulsed in his hand and he clenched his jaw, spilling ropes of seed into the grass. 

He heaved as the orgasm faded, leaning back on shaky legs against the cobblestone of the safe house. Okay, now he was utterly spent. So spent, in fact, that he could no longer pick up traces of Levi’s scent from outside the cabin. Curious, he moved sluggishly towards the door-- hoping that his instincts would be both tired and sated enough to not bother with Levi’s scent again.

As he moved past the open window, he hesitated a deep breath of air, happy to find the fragrance to be in a much milder form. Then, he opened the door and took a slow step inside. The aroused scent was indeed mild, but impossibly so. It should not have dissipated this fast…

Erwin filed the notion away, though, spotting his bed and wanting nothing more than to get a few hours of sleep. He didn’t want to think about what had just happened in his brain-- the war between Levi and Mariana was not something to ponder while so exhausted. It would keep him anxious and awake, neither of which was what he needed right now. Ripping away the top layer of sheets, cold and wet with his own sweat, he then plopped down on the mattress and closed his eyes, forcing his brain to shut off.

In sleep, his memories would be safe.

***

When Erwin woke, it was abrupt… again. His eyes shot open, black and swirling with his arousal. Instantly, he was hit with a rush of deja vu-like panic, which was quickly replaced by the swelling of his instincts. The air was dense with Levi again, more so this time than before. Erwin shot up from the bed and stumbled towards the door, pausing to take a gasp of air from the still open window. He hoped to god that the human didn’t wake, his footsteps felt heavy on the floorboards.

As he pushed through the door he groaned under his breath-- his cock seemed like it was going to burst, so ready to claim the damning human, happily sleeping inside the cabin. Erwin wanted to taste him so badly, spit trickled over his canines to the edges of his jaw just thinking about biting into the Omega’s pale skin.

_Levi was tough. He could handle rough play._

Erwin’s throat rumbled out at the idea and the moment he touched his cock, it spasmed and shot seed all over his hands. He had barely made through the door this time.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He whispered, holding his large hands out in front of him-- not knowing where to wipe away the cum. In his frustration, he clenched his teeth, accidentally biting his cheek. “Fuck!” He cursed under his breath at the nuisance of it all, walking towards the side of the house that he had previously… accidentally marked.

 _What the fuck!_ His frustrations were mounting, egged on by his overtired state. Again, Levi’s scent had quieted, but Erwin wouldn’t trust that shit a second time. By his logic, barely an hour had passed since the first rude awakening… _who was to say it wouldn’t happen again? What if the next time it happened, he couldn’t get out of the cabin on time?_

He just wanted to sleep. His senses were all over the map, zeroing in on the human’s scent at seemingly random moments now…

And this had only been their first night together.

Erwin slumped down against the house, feet splayed out lazily in the grass, defeated. He closed his eyes and thought of his wife, as he often did in times of great stress. The moments of her, the ones that didn’t involve being naked, were still easy to access. Her smile was still as obnoxious and endearing as he remembered...

But he was too frightened to try to conjure anything more _personal,_ fearing that those private moments would also be obliterated by thoughts of Levi, as some already had been. It was gut-wrenching, the way his most cherished things were being torn away while he was in the throes of arousal. It made no sense. The two emotions did not mix well and Erwin was beginning to agonize over the new relationship they had formed. His cock would swell, his heart would ache with fear, and his senses would crave the human-Omega. Over and over, it would happen until he either caved to the will of fate, or somehow got the human to Zackly before things escalated.

_Fuck. Hadn’t they already escalated?_

_Fuck._

That was the only word he could think to himself now, as he began to once again drift off to sleep against the hard rock of the house. A few hours before the sun dawned, that was all he needed… then he would reassess things.

**Levi~**

Levi rarely dreamed, but when he woke the following morning he remembered every serene moment of what he had seen in his slumber. Petra, her slim figure riding him and her small breasts bouncing in the firelight. He watched her, looking up at her panting face as he embraced her waste, licking at her stomach as she squeezed around his cock.

She had been supremely good, not suited for the world she had lived in-- he should have been able to keep her alive. That was all he had to do. Keep her alive... keep this one good thing alive.

He had failed.

She had never asked for more of him than he was willing to give. She had always allowed him him to exist in his mental fog-- fuck her while in it, too. Other women he had been with in the past were never like that, they always demanded more of him. If only they knew that he had nothing more to give.

Petra always gave more than she received. Always expected nothing.

Levi’s eyes flicked open. The surroundings, blurry at first, came into view. He jolted, forgetting where he was for a moment, then closed his eyes and took a breath. Sitting up, he realized that Erwin was nowhere to be seen. It was a little surprising to him that the Alpha had released his bonds so soon… and now he had disappeared altogether. He was proving to be pretty lousy at the escorting business-- Levi was certain that the man’s motives for transporting him were sinister. Had the situation been reversed, Levi would have kept him bound at all times. 

Of course, the ‘Alpha’ probably didn’t see him as a threat. That was certainly a mistake.

On a nearby dresser, Levi spotted a pile of folded clothes that were clearly meant for him. He picked up the shirt, holding it up to inspect it with one hand, while holding his oversized pants up with the other. The shirt was similar to the garb from his world, but it was much more casual in its form and also… colourful. They were vibrant patterns, but the quiet hues of red and purples made him nervous. He liked black. He was a simple man.

 _Fuck._ Everything was a bit over-sized… but it was better than the situation he was currently dealing with. The cloth pants gave a vivid outline of his dick and he couldn’t have that.

Poking his head against a nearby window, he scanned once more for Erwin, then methodically dressed himself in private. The cloth was mostly comfortable, though he wished he had a belt…

Levi’s brows creased, dark eyes noticing Erwin’s boots tucked against the far bed. He crossed the threshold and tugged the thick shoelace from the leather. Then, he tied it around the belt loops of his dark green trousers and tightened them. He chuckled to himself, feeling humour about what he had just done. He would obviously return it once the _Alpha_ could procure something else to keep his pants up.

_Wait. Why was Erwin without his boots?_

Levi moved towards the door and swung it open, stepping outside. The dewy air hit him, his lungs bursting to life with fragrances he could only previously imagine through reading books. An untidy brush of flowers pushed up against the cottage and their colours were equally strange to the ones he had seen prior. The flora shifted between pink and violet, almost sparkling in the light. Levi brushed an absent minded hand over them as he passed, rounding the corner and stumbling upon…

 _Erwin._ Without his boots and in his underclothes. Sleeping against the house with drool running down his open mouth.

Levi rolled his eyes, his mind instantly drawing up the many times he had stumbled upon the commander, asleep and drooling on piles of paperwork. They even had the same light snore.

“Erwin,” Levi barked from his position, a few meters down from the man’s slumped form.

Erwin stirred and his eyes snapped open. They were a crisp colour of blue, but bloodshot from…Actually, Levi didn’t really know what could have caused something like that. Nor why the man passed out against the house in his underclothes.

He casually sniffed the air as Erwin collected himself on his feet, searching for signs of alcohol on the air. He had figured that Erwin was perhaps as shitty at handling his liquor as the commander was, but booze didn’t seem to be a component either. 

“Rough night?” He asked nonchalantly, not really caring about the answer. The weaker his ‘captor’ was, the easier it would be for him to gather information… and to eventually sneak away.

Erwin’s puffy eyes flashed exasperation. “Yeah, you could say something like that,” he said, the words breathy. Levi noted that his body language seemed to exude avoidance.

_Avoidance of what? Avoidance of him?_

Levi shelved the curiosity. “I’m feeling much better, so we could get moving sooner-”

“How long since the last round of nausea,” Erwin interrupted, his eyes a combination of anxiety and dark intensity.

The guy’s emotions seemed to be all over the map. He was definitely anxious, and Levi wasn’t sure if that was completely due to lack of sleep. It seemed like there was another component he wasn’t seeing. “Not since after the bath,” he replied, his words measured. “No waves of it yet this morning, either.”

“Good,” Erwin barked, striding past Levi and turning the corner of the house. “It’s early enough in the morning. We can leave now and stock up on the way. We are heading East. Trident is on the way.”

Levi followed Erwin’s seemingly frantic energy into the house, watching intently as he hurriedly repacked his bag. Levi was fine to leave early. In fact, he figured that it would be helpful to see how other inhabitants interacted in this world-- he would better know how to blend in. It wouldn’t hurt to get more information on Omegas either, seeing as his host wasn’t exactly in the best state for discussion. Nor was Levi certain that the man would tell him the truth. He was obviously hiding things. 

“Do you have an extra pack?” Levi asked, looking at his dirty clothes still folded near the now-cold tub.

“In the cabinets above the bed,” Erwin replied quickly without looking his way. “We’ll pick up horses in Trident as well…”

Levi’s ears pricked up. It didn’t even cross his mind that horses might not be in this world. The flowers were fucked up, so it was logical to think that the animals were as well…

Thank god for horses. Hopefully they meant the same thing here.

“You know how to ride?”

Levi pulled a dusty pack, a knapsack made of fine leather from the cubby and hopped down from the bed. “Of course.”

“Figures,” Erwin said, rising to his feet. Levi noted that his disposition was starting to return to normal. He was smiling again, at least, even if it wasn’t genuine. “I pegged you for the military.”

Levi’s brow rose… _interesting._ As per usual, he had given little credit to Erwin. Sometimes the man seemed daftly friendly, but it was always a ploy. He was perceptible, just like Levi was. Some things did not seem to change across worlds.

“What gave it away?” Levi asked, folding his dirty clothes into his new bag. “Was it the sword?”

“Funny,” Erwin remarked, his brow furrowing on his boots.

“I took a shoelace to hold my pants up,” Levi said pointedly, as if it was a perfectly logical thing to do. “Do you have a belt?”

“You took my…” Erwin said, humorously perplexed. “Do you do this to people often? Is this a common human practice?” He continued, gesturing with the shoe in hand.

“No,” Levi remarked, watching as Erwin shuffled through some drawers. “Just a bit of fun.”

 _With obviously bad timing..._ though he still did not understand exactly _why_ Erwin was so sour. Regardless, it was a good test to gauge his relationship with this new Erwin.

Erwin paused, then chuckled, the tension in his shoulders lightening a bit. “Here’s your fucking belt you, you tiny creature. Now give me back my shoelace.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!!!!!11!!
> 
> I know it might be a little weird how i used Petra in this story. It's weird for me, at least. Cause I always viewed her as just... "too pure for a world of titans." Something which Levi was sorrowful about... but their relationship to me was always platonic. 
> 
> WELL NOT IN THIS STORY BABY! 
> 
> Anyways, next chap we'll check out Trident and theeeeeeeeen I'm probably gonna put Erwin through the wringer ;)
> 
> XOXOXOXOXO


	5. Strange Occurrences in the Market

**Chapter Five: Strange Occurrences in the Market**

**Levi~**

"Really, what makes you think I'm military?" Levi asked, hiking over a fallen log that was home to a variety of strange spotted fungi. He figured that they would be coming upon the settlement-- Trident-- soon. That is, if he had estimated the distance correctly.

"Wow. It speaks," Erwin chided, his steps heavy on the brush below. He was obviously exhausted, but he was riding a second wind for the moment.

Levi smiled to himself at the quip. "Tell me."

Erwin chuckled, then flashed Levi with a set of piercing blue eyes from his position a few paces away. “The way you walk. The way you talk. The look in your eyes. You reek of military.”

Levi was momentarily taken aback by not the response itself, but the delivery of it. He couldn’t tell if the man was angry… _or m_ _ aybe possessive? _

_ No way. _ Neither option made sense given the nature of their conversation.

_ What the fuck am I missing in all of this?  _ Levi furiously pondered the question. This was not the first time that Erwin's tone or actions did not fit the social context as Levi understood it to be.

“I assume you're military as well, if you were looking for those attributes in me," he put forth, trying to divert the weird conversation back to a more comfortable place.

"I am, in a way," Erwin replied, suddenly distracted by the new sounds coming off of the settlement ahead. 

In a snap, his disposition had changed. Again. Levi figured that it had to be due to one of two things; either the man was mentally unstable, or he was frightened of something.

_ An enemy on their tail? _ No, it couldn't be that. If he knew that Levi was military... then it would make sense for him to also alert Levi to potential hostiles, right? No sense in keeping a current ally in the dark.

"Is there a threat that I need to know about?" He decided to ask, and Erwin's attention snapped back to him, dark and intense. 

"Potentially, but unlikely," Erwin replied in a low tone, stalling in place for a moment. He looked as if he was pondering something complex, then he opened his mouth to speak again. "These are Syndicate lands… you dropped in our territory, so we were able to locate you much more quickly than the other provinces could have. They may be on our tail, but they are days behind at the very least."

Levi rose a brow, crossing his arms over his chest.  _ We? _

"I did say that my job was akin to military," Erwin put forth, as if he had just plucked the thought for Levi's head. "And I do happen to work under the Syndicate."

Levi nodded to himself-- okay, so he needed to know more about the Syndicate if he wanted to figure out just where the fuck Erwin was taking him. "And I assume that your headquarters is in the blue woods?"

"Headquarters is such an odd word choice," he chuckled, his mood brightening a bit. "But yes, something like that."

"And going into town?" Levi asked, gesturing to the spattering of buildings, visible though the sparse treeline beyond. "What do I need to know so that this goes as smoothly as possible?"

Erwin pondered again, and Levi could hear the bustling of people-- traders and merchants shouting their wares a small ways off.

"Just stay close and do what I say," Erwin stated and Levi nodded slowly-- all too used to taking orders from his look-alike commander. "Speaking of which," Erwin paused, swinging his pack around and unsnapping a glinting weapon from the padding. "As a precaution."

Levi took the weapon-- one of his ODM swords, broken and half but still deadly sharp. Now he _definitely_ needed more information. "I need more than that to go on, Erwin, you know that," he put forth, still not entirely confident of his grasp on the situation. If Erwin expected him to 'win', a little more give was required. Not much, just a little. Levi could figure the rest on his own.

Erwin pursued his lips, frustrated with some unforeseen thing to an almost comedic degree. Then, his blue eyes looked back to Levi. "Okay, the best rule of thumb for someone like you… an Omega… is to not talk to anyone that's larger than you. You got that?"

_ Okay…  _ Levi's brows furrowed. He was growing increasingly frustrated with Erwin's lackluster communication in that department. He truly had no idea what kind of culture he was about to walk into. Before he could say as much, the Alpha picked him up by his knapsack and plopped him down on the dirt beside him. 

"Let's go," Erwin said, reaching down and absentmindedly dusting off Levi's jacket--  _ which was weird, right? _

Levi couldn't even bring himself to respond. At first he had been too shocked by the intimate act, but now he was too dazzled by the bustling town around him. 

"Stay close," Erwin said, his voice low, as they entered beneath a stone archway of luminous moss-- indicating the entrance of the busy market plaza. 

Ducking around a nearby fruit kiosk, Erwin stepped into the throes of the market traffic. Levi followed, taking in the strange, yet familiar surroundings. The buildings were similar to those in Trost district, but the forest settlement was much more integrated with nature-- blue vines snaked beneath thatched roofs and glowing moss on cobblestone. Even a few of the houses seemed to be built into the sides of trees, using the thick trunk as a wall and its leaves as raincover. He figures that the place probably glowed with a blue hue as night, it was almost mystical.

People bustled to and fro, some hawking goods, others buying. Some simply seemed to be out to interact with their fellow man. They all certainly  _ looked _ human, though perhaps a little larger in size than what Levi was used to. The marketplace itself, the town's center, was concentrated with colourful cloth stalls. They were definitely temporary, meant to be set up each morning by their owners, because by Levi's count there were far too many of them for the place to be properly organized. Some areas of the market seemed so squished together that he found it difficult to avoid physical contact with others, something which he greatly disliked, and so he stepped in closer to Erwin, acting like the shadow of a shield. Indeed, the man seemed to have an invisible bubble around him, perhaps due to his size, for most people seemed to absentmindedly stay out of his way. Peculiar, but useful, given Levi's short stature.

_ Speaking of which…  _ Levi mused as he walked and glanced about, shadowing the Alphas heavy steps with his own light ones. 

_ He tells me not to talk to anyone larger than me…? _

Everyone was larger than him here. 

Granted, he wasn't outmatched by much-- he had seen quite a few women, and a sparse amount of men, that had only a few inches on him.

The weird part was the strange aura Levi was beginning to notice on each member of the bustling group.

A lot of the smaller people-- Omegas, he figured-- had an aura about them. Levi couldn't believe that he was actually dubbing something as an  _ aura,  _ but the new world also had colour-changing flowers so who he was he judge _auras_. Either way, all of the Omega-folk seemed to have an attractiveness about them that Levi didn't wholly understand. It was almost other-worldly.

Then there were the larger people.

They felt dangerous. Levi didn't need an aura to tell him that. They would definitely not be easily trifled with...  _ Alphas. _

_ Did Erwin give off that same aura? He was an Alpha, wasn't he? _

It's possible Levi had been too blind to see it on the man before now, given their strangely comfortable relationship. Had he been snapped up by somebody with a different face, he probably would have approached his entire situation differently. Taking orders from Erwin, placing his trust in Erwin, were things that came naturally. Sometimes it was difficult to remind himself that the Erwin he was with now was not the same man as the commander. There truly was no reason to trust him.

Erwin tugged at his shirt, cutting his introspection short and pulling the two of them to the side of the market. Next to them stood the display windows of a tailor and above them was a lattice awning, jutting out from the mossy house. Levi's mind wandered, thinking the awning stupid because its decorative holes did nothing to keep out potential rain.

"Can you stay here for a moment… please," Erwin asked, his eyes frantic glancing about the market. The final word was said with a tone of tired desperation that made Levi perplexed all over again. "I need to meet someone for something. Right now. I'll be back in a half-hour." 

_ Very ambiguous language... _ "And if you're not?" Levi replied, feeling confident that he could handle himself, but wanting a back-up plan. He had no money and no idea where the heck he was, he didn't want to lose his captor... guide... captor.

Erwin's eyes snapped to him, the normally blue irises darkening with wisps of black-- twice now Levi had seen it. "I will be back in half an hour," the Alpha repeated softly, his tone sending a chill up Levi's spine that was not quite pleasurable, but certainly riding the line. "Just stay.  _ Please. _ "

Levi's face remained impassive as Erwin gave him one last look over, then darted into a shadowy lane way behind them.

Levi didn't bother watching him disappear and instead began people watching-- Intel gathering. He was starting to get accustomed to the colorful clothing. It didn't look so back on people that actually had the right fit of it.

Twenty minutes came and went quickly. His mind was occupied throughout. He had counted the seconds in his head for the first while until he noticed the town clock, near the center of the plaza. Above its metal form hovered a large purple crystal. Levi's eyes grew in size and he looked away, deciding that he would much rather people watch some more.

From what little observation he had done thus far, he felt secure in his assessment that the Alpha-Omega world was much more... _ emotional _ than his own. Large men, and sometimes women, argued loudly about their 'mates'. Levi had even witnessed two men get into a brawl about a smaller woman running a flower stall. There was also another one a few minutes later about a land dispute. It seemed like airing your dirty laundry in public was clearly a thing here. Levi didn't very much like that. He was a very private person.

Levi glanced over the crowd again. This time, his dark eyes were met by another pair from across the market-- snake-like. Two men stood in a side alley between buildings, casual-looking, but obviously watching him.

Levi glanced over the crowd for Erwin. When he failed to spot him, his eyes darted back to the men, now disappearing down the lane way. He moved to follow them, confident in his stealth abilities, when a large body stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Hey."

Levi looked up at the owner of the deep voice. He was an average looking young man-- tall and built like… well, like someone who did a lot of heavy lifting. Though the size was what gave him away as an Alpha, Levi could sense the dangerous aura about him as well.

He gave the man a steely look, then peaked around him to see if the suspicious men were gone-- they were. "Can I help you?" He asked, his tone mellow but his teeth grit.

The man chuckled, seemingly unaware of his stupidity, and took a step forward into Levi's personal space. "Haven't seen you around the marketplace before… are you from out of town?"

Levi's body tensed.  _ Did this man know he was a human? But how could he know? _

_...by scent?  _

Levi immediately began to panic, then shut it off all at once. If that was the case, then he could only hope that Erwin would have dealt with it already.

_ Why did he keep placing his trust in this man?  _ He was being too lax in his preparedness, letting Erwin guide him without really thinking for himself. He needed to do better… ask more questions.

"You're quite tough looking, for an Omega," the man continued. Levi figured he had been giving off very hostile  _ don't talk to me vibes _ \-- the man was daft to have not picked up on them.

Levi remained quiet, waiting for the idiot to leave, but found himself unable to keep his body relaxed. it was almost as if his brain was doing it of its own volition-- instinctually, like it was when he hunted titans. He was truly on edge.

"You're also the smallest Omega I've seen, I like that..."

"Can. I. Help. You." Levi replied with lazy conviction, his tone level but threatening. Whatever ploy this man was trying to sell him he was not going to buy.

The Alpha's nostrils flared and his aura intensified-- so much so that Levi had to fight not to recoil. He wasn't scared, his heightened senses were just not partial to the aggressiveness of the aura. It was a new sensation for him.

The man moved forward, closing the gap between them in one large step and Levi felt like he was suffocating under some invisible force. He stepped back, pressing up against the display glass behind him. He had not been expecting a sudden surge of anger from the man. He was acting like Erwin, for fucks sakes.  _ What was going on? Why did everyone's moods suddenly flip, and what was setting them off? _ Maybe the man was not keen on being stood up to by a weak Omega. 

_ That made sense… totem pole and all. _

Levi stiffened as the man leaned forward, ready to pull his broken blade from his bag. He would cut the man's throat if necessary-- show him just how weak Omegas really were.

"FINNEGAN!" A shrill voice carried across from the alley that Erwin had disappeared into. Peering behind a navy curtain with a pattern of silver stars, an older woman jabbed a finger their way. Levi could just barely make her out in the shade of the buildings. "TAKE YOUR COCK AND STUFF IT SOMEWHERE ELSE."

Levi was gobsmacked at what he had just heard. Visibly gobsmacked, as well. And then the Alpha left, almost sullenly, and Levi struggled to pick his jaw up off the floor.

"Come over here, my boy," the old lady said, beckoning him towards her strange, mystical looking booth-- full of salves and tonics in oddly shaped jars... She must not get many customers, as tucked away in the alley as she was.

Levi hesitated, glancing around for Erwin, then decided to acquiesce. "It's been a long time since someone has called me a boy," he said as he approached, his hands casually in the pockets on his trousers-- all signs of his previous nerves gone.

"To me," the lady started, pointing to her moderately wrinkled face. "You are a boy."

"Yes, well, thank you for," Levi faltered, unsure of how to express gratitude over such an odd event. "For  _ that _ ."

"… Finnegan is young and hormonal. But he has always been an easy Alpha to handle, even as a child. Some of the others are not so easily subdued."

"...I realize that this may come as an odd question," Levi cautioned. "But what exactly did Finnegan want?"

"Probably to stick his cock inside of you!" The lady said with a hearty laugh, then narrowed her eyes. "Curious, an Omega that doesn't know something like that..."

Should Levi be concerned with how the lady had just insinuated that he was a human? Yes. Was he actually concerned with it? No. 

He was too taken aback by her statement... and the vulgarity of the statement as well. She, like many of the people in the market that he had seen, talked so openly of such private acts… it made Levi uncomfortable. He was not used to such a thing. People loved in his world, too, but private moments shared between lovers were never on display for everyone to see. 

_ Not like here. This place… this place seems founded upon sex… _

_ Omega. _ "Was it because I'm- because I'm an Omega?" He blurted out, unable to stop himself from asking. He didn't want the answer to be what he was thinking it to be. "He- Finnegan approached because of that?"

Levi had always figured that Omegas were simply the weaker class. Sure, it might be harder for him to find a 'mate', but he had never really wanted a partner in his own world, so why would he want one here?

This new kind of Omega, Omega as he was starting to understand it, was  _ not  _ something he was ready to deal with. He didn't even know how to begin to deal with it! He had enough on his plate already.  _ He had to get back to Eldia, and to the scouts. _

"The breeding class," the woman said with a knowing wink. Levi wasn't sure if she knew he was a human, but he didn't care to press the matter-- he wanted answers, so damn the consequences, if there were any. "That's not to say that us Omegas don't do other things! It's more of a status, than anything else," she paused, gesturing to her booth of oddities. "It just influences the way in which we socialize and interact with each other."

Levi nodded, swallowing his dry throat. Omegas were meant to be fucked by… Alphas. Of course they were. Of course this would happen to him. It was just his luck. Even jumping across worlds didn't seem to change the way fate rained hellfire down upon him.

His stomach did a loop, thinking about his new status as an Omega. He had  _ never _ been attracted to men, and even when he thought about it now, he was the one doing the penetrating.

_ Were there Alpha women? _

_ Wait. Wait... was he meant to be bred as a male? _

"You don't  _ have _ to take a mate, you know," the woman put forth, likely picking up on Levi's unusually nervous energy. "Bonding is a mutual affair. Both parties have to confirm with their mating bites… though that doesn't stop the knotheads from using force at times. But we tend to look out for one another."

"Bonding?" Levi asked, his own voice sounding hollow and far away. He felt like he was watching himself from outside of his body.

"If two individuals so choose, they can become bonded during mating season. The bites have to be done either during an Omega's heat, or an Alpha's rut-"

"Using Alphas as protection, makes sense." 

Levi was not having trouble understanding, he was having trouble digesting. He understood what he was being told, but he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that came over him when he thought of his changing body. And that dread was beginning to block everything else in his mind.

"Well, I'm sure some mate for love as well," the older woman said pointedly and Levi nodded, his glassy eyes out of focus. "And then there are natural mates-"

_ Natural mates? _

"Levi!" Erwin's voice barked, carrying down the alley from where he had left Levi earlier.

Levi rose a brow at the frantic tone of the man's voice-- he probably thought that he had run away. Erwin was lucky that he hadn't, because the man would never be able to track him down.

The older woman rose a brow in turn, looking between him and Erwin's flustered, tired figure. "You had better go," she said quietly, with a coy smile. "Your friend seems to be on the verge of a rampage. I don't wish to see my stall destroyed by an Alpha brawl, they only just replaced the market signs from the last one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exxxxxxxxxxoooooooosssiiiiiittttiiiiioooonnnn... Soooooorrrrryyyy Guuuuuyyyyyssss
> 
> I've got essay stuff tomorrow but will hopefully be back monday with some more interesting chapters!! <33  
>  Thx 4 reading xoxo gossip girl


	6. An Instinctual Journey Through Trident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIIIIII There are a small few continuity errors that I will be fixing in the next day or so (I don't know if anyone will even notice them anyways hahaha); Bathilda's dialogue will also be changed to match her personality in this chapter as well!!
> 
> AND I'll be back probably tuesday with another chapter, but I REALLLY NeeD tO DO mY EssAy cause its already 3 days late.
> 
> Goddammit victoria stop procrastinating by writing smut to post on the internet!!! 
> 
> **Announcers Voice** Next time on Strange World: Levi struggles with his new status as an Omega and Erwin fights back against an out-of-season rut!

**Chapter Six: An Instinctual Journey Through Trident**

**Erwin~**

Erwin was starting to doubt his resolve. The fateful attraction between he and Levi was progressing too fast. After last night’s hell, Erwin’s senses showed no signs of slowing. Indeed, they seemed to be ramping up more and more now. Levi's scent was mild. Erwin knew this for a fact, yet he wondered if it was the human’s scent that was exploding out, or if his own senses were the problem…

_Was Levi the source of his sense spikes, or was it his own body?_

Erwin did not know, and so he was _very_ stressed about going into Trident with the human. If it was indeed Levi’s scent that was snapping out at sudden moments, then others in the town would react to it as well. It was an unnecessary risk, but Erwin had placed his bets on his own body being the problem. It was a calculation, on his part.

The human was still a human, and he had shown no signs yet of attraction for Erwin. For a human's scent to have such a capacity... It made more sense that it was Erwin's own body going haywire.

Suddenly, as if fate had read his mind, Erwin's sense of smell heightened, knocking the breath out of him. It wasn't like he could smell _everything_ better. 

No… just Levi.

He could feel the smaller man pressed in close behind him, following like a shadow as Erwin shielded him from the marketplace dwellers. He was pleased to offer the protection, but they weren’t going to make it very far if the human’s scent continued to be so obnoxiously enticing. Especially not with the Omega so close to him.

Erwin felt his eyes shift to black and he grit his teeth together. He glanced about the market for interested parties-- to any Alpha in the vicinity that dared even think about taking what was his.

None of them met his eyes. Submissive to his claim. He did have a strong dominance to him, after all, and he was thankful that Levi didn’t have the capacity to smell it yet.

His cock swelled, thinking of Levi as a full-blown Omega. It was held back against the waistband of his underclothes, so sensitive that it almost hurt. He knew that his scent was flowing off of him and into the air, pooling on the earth around his heavy footsteps. The jostling marketplace became quiet in his ears, muffled by his heightened state of being. 

His cock swelled more. His skin felt charged. _Fuckfuckfuckfuck._

He picked up his pace, feeling confident that Levi would keep up. He needed to take care of himself. He needed to find a safe place to stash the human for a while-- a safe place. Then, as if fate had personally heard his cries, Erwin’s eyes took in a familiar alley, a few meters ahead of him and off to the side of the market traffic-- mad bat Bathilda's lane, as the kids liked to call it. He knew the place well. He knew its sole inhabitant well, too.

Bathilda had been a friend of Mariana's-- a tutor of sorts in her youth. Mariana always kept in touch with her, and Erwin had been dragged to more than a few ‘we’re-in-Trident-we’re-going-to-visit-her-Erwin’ dinners. The old bat was the last remaining contact he had left from his life with his mate, aside from Zackly. She also didn’t really deserve the nickname, but the kids around Trident, and even some of the adults, had always been frightened of how outspoken she was. She certainly wasn’t afraid to call out wrongs, which Erwin admired. Still, Omegas just weren't supposed to be like that. 

Reaching behind him, his large hand gripped into the fabric and Levi's shirt and pulled them aside. The alley was nearby enough that Bathilda could keep an eye on Levi while he _…tried to take care of things._

"Can you stay here for a moment… please," he asked, almost pleading. His eyes, now fighting to stay blue, darted over the marketplace. He was extremely nervous about separating from Levi. He had to be truly out of his mind-- if he was not already. He had, after all, given his _captive,_ with a history of hard _military service,_ a goddamn knife-- and that was when he had been in his right mind.

He shivered and Levi’s steely scent drew in his attention. The human did not do it intentionally, but his scent was beginning to illustrate his mood.

Erwin's panic heightened again and his muscles tensed. “And if you’re not?” Levi asked. He looked confident.

The confidence was a curse upon Levi. He longed to pin the smaller man against the building and pump into him-- show him who was in command. Thinking that, Levi’s stalwart scent bombarded Erwin with wave after wave of arousal. He _needed_ to take care of things. Now.

He just needed the fucking human to stay put…

But he couldn’t force the human to stay, and he detested the thought of Levi suddenly running away. Not only would it put him in a very difficult position with Zackly, he would also be torn to shreds by his inner Alpha…

 _Fuck._ Now he was really starting to doubt whether or not he could surrender Levi to the Syndicate at all. He glanced to the human, feeling horny and resigned at the same time.

"I _will_ be back in half an hour," he repeated, this time more softly. He didn’t really have the energy to keep up a front anymore. "Just stay. _Please._ "

Levi's face remained impassive. Erwin had no choice but to hope that he stayed put. Bathilda would keep him safe, so long as he didn’t wander off. Erwin gave Levi one final look over, an Alpha driven glance that memorized every inch of exposed skin. Now, he would know if something happened to the human. Whoever dared touch him would be ripped to shreds...Thank god Erwin had the foresight to scent his new clothes against prying noses-- the human scent was always mild, but not completely absent.

Darting down the alley, Erwin disappeared in the shadows and halted in front of the familiar curtain, navy and filled with stars. It looked just as he remembered it. He remembered the inside of the cobblestone building it was jutting out of, too.

"We're closed today, Erwin," Bathilda's stern voice came from beyond the fabric. Then, the curtain snapped open and Bathilda, wrinkled and sharp looking as ever, popped out. Her dark eyes narrowed and her face distorted with suspicion as she looked Erwin up and down. "What's going on with you, then? You smell like a damn pheromone circus!" She paused, leaning forward on the wooden counter of her stall to better sniff. “What on earth have ya been doing?”

Erwin's throat rumbled, still antsy to relieve his cock from its agony. "Bathilda I need you to watch him for me."

She had watched his humans before-- whenever his human hunts had taken him to Trident, that is.

Bathilda looked towards Levi, his small frame-- merely an outline could be seen from the shadows of the narrow lane way. "What? That tiny one over yonder? Yer barking mad if y'think I'm gonna watch over another one of yer witchy parcels!"

Erwin leaned forward, putting his hands in a prayer position and feigning a smile as best he could. "Bathilda, please," he said, half pleading, half growling. "I need to go do something."

"I bet! Like taking yerself to the east-end brothel," Bathilda said pointedly and Erwin wanted to smack the dumb grin off her batty face.

 _That was his plan._ Truthfully, he couldn’t think of anything else to do. He knew that jerking off only ended with destroyed memories of Mariana-- he hoped that fucking an Omega wouldn’t do the same. Perhaps, if he had a physical form to focus on, his mind wouldn’t slip up with thoughts of Levi.

He didn’t want to do this, he didn’t want to tarnish his late partner, but he was truly desperate. He was facing so many different kinds of pressure that he didn’t know what to think anymore. He looked to Bathilda, flashing her what he hoped was an apologetic look. Admittedly, his consciousness was split down the middle, warring between instinct and logic. He didn’t want to rely on her, but friends were in short supply for him-- particularly friends that he could instinctively trust with the human-Omega.

Man, his brain was fried. His thoughts circulating the same convictions over and over again, He knew that he needed to get away from Levi. He knew that he needed to cum inside of something that was not his hand. He prayed to whatever god had the time to listen that fucking an Omega would give him more reprieve than his hand did. If it didn't, he wasn't sure he would make it through the hard seven days ride to the blue woods.

_He would cave._

Cutting across the lower markets, he turned another corner and stopped in front of a building of red-painted cobblestone. It was two stories, with a large wooden sign that had an Omega symbol carved into it-- the end of which curved off into the shape of a heart. Erwin grimaced. He had not slept with another Omega since Mariana. He didn't want to do this...

 _He didn’t want to fucking do this_.

For the sake of saving Mariana’s memory, he was going to have to taint the sanctity of their bond.

_Fuck._

The instinctually-driven side of Erwin pushed through the ornate door. The copper bells tied above it let out a jingle, alerting staff to his presence. A prudent looking Omega stepped into the small room, flush with sitting cushions and lewd paintings for sale. Erwin pegged her as being in her early forties. She was still very beautiful, with streaks of silver in her black hair. She wore abnormally plain clothes and no makeup, but Erwin had never felt an attraction to those types of things. Mariana had always been most beautiful when her freckles were sun-kissed and free.

"Hello sir, and what service are you looking for this morning?"

Erwin glanced at the service board on the far wall, hesitant and frankly embarrassed. "I- uh- full service, please."

It was strange to him that such places always got straight down to business. Working in the pleasure houses was seen as a valid profession, a career option for Omegas-- and Alphas-- that was Syndicate regulated. They certainly made a lot of money in the springtime-

"Sir?" 

Erwin shook his head and his cock swelled as he regrettably came back to reality, his nose suddenly picking up on the many Omega pheromones that were circulating in the building.

He shook his head again. "Sorry, what was that?"

"If you would just fill out this preference questionnaire so we can-"

"Look," Erwin said with a growl, growing impatient. He had been holding his instincts back far longer than he should be capable of-- he was about to explode. "Could you just- fast track me," he continued, motioning to the gated stairs up to the bedrooms. “Really. I’m in a hurry.”

"O-okay," the woman replied, no doubt picking up on his domineering scent. Thank god he wasn’t exuding any hostility, lest she deny services to him. "Uh," she said, biting her cherry coloured lip. "Do you prefer feminine or masculine physique?"

"Masculine. Small. Dark features."

As soon as the words rolled off his tongue, he wanted to die. Truly. He had answered so effortlessly, as if there hadn’t been anything to debate. The worst part was that the words hadn't been forced out of his mouth by his instincts-- they had been his own.

_There is no war to be won anymore. He was going to lose Mariana. He was going to have to face Zackly empty-handed..._

"He's a bit expensive," the woman chirped up again, thankfully interrupting Erwin’s tumultuous thoughts-- he knew better than to try and think on an instinctual brain. He should be mulling this over on a clear head.

The dark haired woman pulled out a file from a nearby case and opened it to a sultry, black and white photograph of a male Omega. He looked similar to Levi, though he was softer looking, like most other regular Omegas. He wasn’t battle hardened in any way… why should he be, given his profession.

Erwin closed his eyes and let out a breath, reminding himself why he was here. He shut off his thoughts and tasked himself with doing what he had to do. "It will do."

The woman smiled, closed the file, and flipped one of the many switches on the wall behind her. "Payment first, then up the stairs and to the third door on the left."

***

The Omega had been nice enough-- well-versed in sex and the art of pleasing-- but Erwin did not benefit from it. The entire act was hollow. He _felt_ pleasure, pumping in and out of the Omega's warm sex, but it was surface level, barely graspable.

"Ah! Right there!" The Omega gasped loudly, then burrowed his face in the messy covers.

Erwin ground his cock upward and the boy squirmed against the sheets, trapped beneath the former’s sweaty form. Erwin's skin glistened from exertion. He straightened up for a moment and, feeling ever-more disenchanted with the act, he pushed a hand through his sweaty air, slicking it back against his scalp. His abs flexed and his biceps hardened as he grabbed at the Omega's slender hips and resumed pumping in and out. It was almost mechanical… and getting to the point of knotting was proving to be a difficult task. _How much time did he have left? He had paid for a thirty minute increment? Was he there yet?_

The Omega squirmed. “Yes! Yes!” He cried as Erwin unceasingly continued to drive his member deep inside.

 _It just isn’t satisfying enough…_ His thoughts, while focused on the slender Omega beneath him, were listlessly dull. The Omega's voice drifted out around him in moderately loud _oohs_ and _ahs._ His voice was growing more and more irritating in Erwin's ears with each passing second. 

Placing a firm hand on the back of the Omega's sweaty neck, he leaned forward and whispered, his voice low and rumbling. "Quiet."

The boy instantly silenced-- whether it had from work experience or submission, Erwin did not care. He was honestly happy for it. Now, he needed to focus all his energy on knotting before his time ran out. He couldn’t go back to Levi as he was. Closing his eyes, he let out a breath and finally allowed his instinctual mind wander free. 

He knew exactly what would happen. Still, not knowing what else he could do to quell his inner Alpha, he let it happen anyways. Thoughts and images of Levi immediately poured into his brain as he continued to jam himself deeper inside the Omega-- this time with the full vigor of his imagination.

He could feel his knot forming, his canines dripping spit down to the boy's pale back, as his brain played its wily tricks on him. The Omega gasped loudly, genuinely this time, as Erwin's large cock swelled and Erwin came prematurely, thinking that the noise had come from Levi.

Then, he opened his eyes and was ripped from his fantasy.

Beneath him, the Omega giggled and gingerly pulled out from under him. "You were amaaaaaazing right up until the end there," he said with a flirtatious wink.

Erwin felt all at once disgusted with himself. All this had done was bring disgrace upon him. He wasn’t strong enough to control his instincts. He had succumbed to disgracing Mariana’s memory. He had disgraced himself as a Syndicate operator, too, leaving the human alone in a city filled to the brim with Alphas...

His face must have said as much, because the Omega’s scent instantly shrunk back in defense-- on edge against Erwin’s tense and domineering scent. 

"I'm sorry," Erwin said, grabbing up his pants in a hurry and tugging then on. He immediately reined in his scent-- at least his head felt clear, for the moment. "I'm sorry- it's not you- you were- great- I just- I'm sorry."

“You don’t look ready to go,” the Omega replied, relaxing a measure as he coyly gestured to Erwin’s still-erect manhood-- _Yeah, he was getting used to that._ “Buy another round, I’ll even give you a discount.”

Erwin pulled his shirt over his head and shook his head as he hurriedly gathered up his things. Then, he reached for the door, swinging his travel bag across his shoulders. “Thanks- Thank you.”

He felt like a shameful youth. Well, that _was_ the last time he had been to a pleasure house…

Erwin quickly exited the red building, ignoring the professional Omega on the main floor as she tried to have him fill out an evaluation form-- ‘ya tens all around’ he called, dismissing her. Then, he glanced down at his leather-strapped watch as he walked into the throes of the lower market-- absentmindedly stepping out of the way of a pack of Alphas that were headed into the brothel behind him. Never get in the way of Alphas and their sex-life.

_Fuck. He was late._

Instantly, his instinctual mind reared forward and he accidentally bit his tongue, caught off guard by their sudden panic. He growled under his breath and strode through the lower market with objective speed, his scent coiling out its aggression to steer others clear of him. He could deal with feeling possessive of Levi; wanting to safeguard the human, even for instinctual reasons, worked out well for him. He needed the human for the good of the Syndicate, after all. He would allow it, just not the arousal.

Erwin rounded the corner of a stall selling various animal pelts, opting to take a shortcut through the fabric section of the market. It meant he wouldn’t be cutting through Bathilda’s alley this time, he wouldn’t be able to thank her or say goodbye, but he would get to Levi quicker. That was all that mattered. 

When he came upon the spot, next to the display windows of gaudy clothes, Levi was nowhere to be found. For a split second, Erwin actually wished that his senses were still flared. Then he remembered everything that came with being able to better smell Levi.

_Hard pass._

Still, he was panicking. He hadn’t expected Levi to run-- he didn’t know why he felt so strongly of that fact, but he did. _Next logical thing..._

_Had someone taken him?_

Erwin’s eyes, now black with instinct, glazed over the marketplace. “Levi!” He called, his voice almost shrill-- certain that the Omega must have been taken. A uniquely small Omega, with angular looks and dark features-- not to mention the rarity of him being male-- Erwin sucked in a breath, his stomach in knots. He inhaled deep, trying to ascertain the direction Levi had gone, but all that remained was a small pool of dissipating fragrance where the human must have stood for much of their time apart... 

He turned on his heels, gaze snapping to the alley, expecting to find Bathilda-- he saw Levi instead, looking half-distant, half-calculating. 

Instantly, his fear vanished and he strode forward, closing the distance between them. Over Levi’s shoulder, Bathilda shot him an inquisitive glace, then harshly closed her starry curtains.

“Creeping in alleys now?” Erwin asked, doing his best to keep his tone level and casual. His eyes had returned to their striking blue. Thankfully, his trip to the brothel hadn’t been for nothing. Still, the price wasn’t worth the pay-off. It was only a matter of time until Levi asked what was going on with him-- and actually expected a proper answer this time around.

_It was only a matter of time until his demons caught up to him._

“Did you get travel rations or do we still need to stock up,” Levi said, his tone level, almost mechanical to Erwin’s ears.

“No… not yet,” Erwin replied and Levi brushed by him back towards the market. His scent, coiling into Erwin’s nostrils, was devoid of all emotion. Erwin shivered, unused to such a controlled scent-- very few were able to do as much. It was a rare feat.

“I’m comfortable in this environment now. Give me money and I will go get us horses,” Levi stated plainly, dark eyes looking over a loud group of giggling Omegas, a few paces ahead of them. “I’ve always had a better eye for them than you, anyways.”

Erwin was visibly taken aback… for two reasons. The most obvious of being shocked with the actual statement itself. Levi didn’t seem to realize the strangeness of what he had said. He was confusing Erwin with someone that he knew… the man that he shared a name with.

 _Who was the Erwin that Levi knew?_ Erwin hadn’t pressed the matter, maybe he should have. Levi had said that they looked similar, but gave nothing more. Between the odd familiarity of the earlier string ‘prank’ and the horse comment, Erwin now had pause.

As for the second reason-- Erwin had expected his instincts to rear up at the idea of letting Levi out of their sights, but they didn’t. They stayed quiet, completely sated in their light slumber. He felt relieved at that, and decided to roll with the unexpected ease he was feeling.

“Alright,” he said, tugging a few gold pieces from his pocket, and a gaggle of silver ones. “We want endurance steeds, I want to cover a lot of ground. The stables are on the-”

“East end,” Levi interrupted, dropping the handful of coins into the pocket of his trousers. “I overhead. We’ll meet there in an hour.”

Erwin nodded, impressed. More impressed was he with the fact that an Omega, albeit a human one, was able to make him feel so secure. Normally, it was the opposite. The Alpha fretted, the Omega obeyed. By all accounts, Erwin should not be feeling so at ease with letting Levi wander off. Even rationally, it made no sense. Levi was his prisoner, whether the Omega knew it or not. 

_Why. Why?_ Erwin felt completely confident that human would be there waiting for him at the stables with two fast horses in hand. Maybe even some extra change. He was resilient. He didn’t need to be baby-sat.

“Alright,” Erwin said again, but Levi was already a few paces ahead of him. Erwin internally chided himself-- he needed to stop zoning out with his thoughts.

Before Levi disappeared into the crowd, he looked back over his shoulder, luring Erwin's attention with cold eyes. “And Erwin,” he called, his face giving away no sense of what he was thinking. “Pull yourself together.”

Erwin’s blue eyes widened and he took in a strained breath of air as Levi disappeared beyond sight. No questions were asked of what was going on or where he had been. No complaints filed against him. Simply a command to do better.

_If only…_

Erwin knew that he wasn’t going to be able to do better-- if only Levi knew what was happening to him-- to them. Certainly, he would run if he knew. Perhaps, he would get far enough away that they wouldn't feel the pull anymore.

 _Fuck..._ That seemed to be his favourite word lately.

Erwin slicked his hair back again, liking the sensation on his scalp. The impossibility of the seven days journey ahead was now fully weighing down upon him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg also, I just put a disclaimer at the beginning of this story and I'm gonna drop it here as well:
> 
> This fic is gonna get pretty dark and twisted later on. It will OF COURSE have a HEA, but the journey is gonna get a lil bit nasty because it's an AoT fanfic, so why not? So prepare your soul before going forward pls


	7. Journey Part I

**Strange World Chapter Seven: Journey Part I**

**Levi~**

Levi dreamed of Petra again-- her red head bobbing up and down as she sucked his cock on her knees. He sat slumped on an arm chair in his captain’s quarters... he could almost feel the tough fabric of the chair beneath him. He knew that it was all just a dream, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. He felt things, real things-- like the dry air of the room and the texture of Petra's wet tongue on his shaft. He ran his hands through her soft hair, groaning as he leaned back and came onto her sweet face.

His dark eyes flicked open, the sound of evening cicadas filling his ears. His undershirt was slick against his skin and sticking to the sleeping pad beneath him. 

_ Why. Why was his body doing this to him?  _

He had never been very interested in sex before, let alone having wet dreams to such vivid shit. 

_ It has to be a side effect of becoming an Omega… the breeding class. _

Levi clenched his teeth at the thought of being bred. He needed to ground himself in reality. He was at peace with being a damn Omega, so long as he had the choice to be a celibate one. He would, however, like to know where the Alpha of his party was-- a quick glance at Erwin's sleeping mat saw it empty beyond the dead fire.

_ Where was he? _

Erwin had been adamant, almost hysterically so, in Levi’s humble opinion, that the two of them did  _ not _ need to sleep in shifts. Though Levi found the man’s insanity somewhat humorous, it made no sense to do so-- they would be vulnerable, sleeping at the same time. Being a human and all of that, Levi knew that he was precious goods. Erwin had warned that others would be looking, so logically, he figured that the man was completely off his rocker with the idea.

_Admittedly..._ Levi did not press the matter. He told himself this was because he was confident in his own combat skills-- he always kept his body to a light sleep and his broken blade was still just as deadly as a full one. It  _ definitely _ wasn’t because he was consistently failing to separate the commander from the… not a commander version that he was currently with.

Levi mused, sitting up on his sleeping mat,  _ I’d rather have a stable commander over an unhinged Alpha.  _ Indeed, he was beginning to worry about the man’s headspace. It was obvious that something was going on… and shit, it was only their first day on the road. He had hoped that the moodiness was just a one-off. A bad day. 

Now, it didn’t seem like that was the case.

The two of them had ridden for the remaining hours of sunlight after leaving Trident and they had shared very few words the entire time. They had simply met at the stables like they had agreed, packed up their steeds, and rode out. Erwin had been somewhat calm when Levi had last seen him, in the market ally, but that had definitely been short lived. By the time they were riding, he was back to his usual tensity-- on edge to the point that Levi kept up a constant guard throughout the day, fearing some out-of-nowhere-attack that he couldn’t perceive with human senses. 

About half-way through the day, Levi began to see the Alpha's aura. Unlike the auras in the market, Erwin’s was too swirling with emotion to be of any use to him. He couldn’t peg anything down, no specific emotion or intent, there was just too much going on with it. He was, however, able to confirm that Erwin was indeed in a state of emotional upheaval. The man’s aura was wild and seemingly unpredictable. Sometimes it would blast out in a large radius of raw emotion, while at other times it swirled around Erwin, coiling and seemingly ready to attack. There was no pattern to it that Levi could see, anyways. 

_ Goddammit.  _ He was going to have to monitor it. He didn't need Erwin snapping in a time of need. If the Alpha's mood continued to decline, Levi would have to intervene. He just hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary-- something deep down told him that he did not want to mess with an Alpha. Especially not one as unhinged as Erwin was. It would be better if he just slipped away one night and never returned. Out of sight out of mind.

For now, though, he would just keep up the submissive act until the time came-- a few days before they arrived at the blue woods, like he had always planned. As they traveled along, he would commit the landscape to memory, all the while watching Erwin with keen eyes, riding close behind like a shadow. He already knew where the man kept his money. He also knew where he kept his weapon-- a large broadsword that probably weighed nearly as much as Levi did. That didn’t frighten him, though. Size wasn’t everything.

When the time came to leave, Levi would be ready. Without a doubt. He just had to reconnect with his underground self, that version of him would be much more useful here than the soldier. 

With that in mind, Levi rolled back onto his mat and looked up at the stars, adjusting his over-sized pants beneath the light sleeping blanket that had scrunched up at his waist. He was glad that pants weren't made of a heavy fabric because the crotch was now wet with his cum…

_ Thank you imaginary Petra… _

_ This really must be hell, _ he mused, his face impassive to the clear sky above. Not as bad as being titan fodder, but he did really need to wash his clothes-- the ones that actually fit him. He didn’t like feeling so…  _ free _ in his fabics, especially while riding a horse at full speed. He would speak to Erwin about tomorrow night’s camp location. He needed a river, or even a pond.

Levi's eyes darted back to the empty sleeping mat again, unable from keeping his mind from creeping back to the annoying Alpha subject. He had gone out for firewood earlier on, the instant they had made camp in fact, and Levi had fallen asleep before he had returned. It had to be close to dawn by now… Levi could almost smell it in the breeze, in rustling the trees around the camp. He also had a feeling that Erwin was nearby, he wasn't entirely sure why, but he often went with his gut instinct so he assumed that he was correct. He sniffed again, hoping for more early morning air, then froze, jutting back up to a seated position. 

_ They weren’t auras... they were  _ _scents!_ But they were not like any scent he had experienced before. These ones, the ones that people had in this strange word, they felt  _ alive.  _ They had personality and depth, fluid and smoke-like from Levi’s mental perception. 

When Erwin’s scent blasted out from the woods, like a dust storm above the shuddering trees, and Levi sucked in a breath. It was dark and heavy and masculine. It steadied in the air, then slipped back down into the forest and Levi stared, unblinking at its prowess. Then, the scent coiled into the short grass at the edge of the treeline, creeping out of the greenery like tendrils. It was almost as if Levi could see it with his own eyes… almost, but not quite. His mind’s eye, perhaps, but he still felt its density when it coiled into his nostrils. He threw both hands over his nose and mouth to defend against the overwhelming sensation it drew out of him. He had never experienced such a visceral reaction before, one that heightened the instinctual portions of his brain. He felt like he could see better, hear better… everything was magnified and completely jarring.

Then his cock hardened. He nearly bit through his tongue at the levels of panic he was now experiencing. He sucked in heavy breaths of air, not understanding what was happening or how to make it stop. He felt hot, too hot… and thirsty for water. He needed water so badly. No, not water...

_ Snap--  _ Levi’s mind dissociated before he could complete the aroused thought. He dropped his hands from his face, inhaling Erwin’s scent again knowing that the emotional parts of his mind were now turned off. The new sensation was still difficult to describe, even from such an removed state Levi found it overwhelming. It was like a fragrance could snake its way up your nostrils and into your mind. It had emotion, colour, personality, intent-- it was like a small window into the soul.

Levi did not like that. Not at all. It was a  _ huge _ invasion of privacy.  _ Had Erwin been able to smell these things on him this whole time? _

_ Damn. _ That would make things more difficult. He would need to factor in scent in his escape plan.

Levi took in another breath of air, trying this absolute best to make clear the range of emotions that Erwin’s creeping scent held. They were all knotted together and tense, as if they were safe-guarding something precious within. He wanted to know what that was, so he dug into them.

_ Anger. _

_ Distress. _

_ Embarrassment. _

_ Fury. _

_ Fear. _

_ Arousal _ ….

Levi froze, his knuckles clenched together in his lap.  _ Oh god. Did that explain his sudden… did Erwin's sexually charged scent cause his body to become hot and… _

He shook his head and forced himself to lay back down on his mat, folding his hands on his chest like a yogi. It took a lot of brewing emotions to threaten his pleasantly dissociated state. Unfortunately, he was close to that mark, so he was not going to entertain the idea of Erwin's scent and his hard cock right now. He didn't care if that was not the logical thing to do, he had enough on his plate already. A man had his limits, even one as immovable as he was. Thinking about Erwin in a sexual way was not something that he was ready for. Not in the slightest. It may have just been an ordinary scent interaction, maybe even a commonplace one in this world, but that didn’t make it any easier. He never even thought about being with another man, and Erwin specifically? Their relationship was that of friendly acquaintances... no, companions of a shared misery and burden.

Erwin's scent drifted closer, likely indicating the Alpha’s approach from the forest, and Levi rubbed his face with his hands. Dawn was near. He was glad that Erwin was back from wherever the fuck he had been-- but he  _ really  _ didn't care to know where that was. Especially now, with the man’s aggravating scent prancing about the clearing. He preferred it when the guy was off gallivanting in the woods. _To hell with him and his frankly violating, moody scent. To hell with being able to sense scent in the first place!_

"Awake?" Erwin's deep voice carried over to him from a few meters away.

Levi sat up  _ again, _ begrudgingly, and looked towards the treeline. "Awake enough to ride out."

"Good."

No questions asked... just get back on the road. Levi liked that. That was a very good idea. No talking, just him getting up top and riding- horses- a horse! Riding horses. Yes, he was thrilled at the idea of getting back on his horse.

From that train of thought alone, Levi knew that he was going to need a distraction if Erwin's scent was going to keep assaulting his senses. It might calm, his brain and nose would probably acclimate, but he wasn’t confident in that alone. Something about the sudden snap of his senses felt absolute. They might die down a bit, but they were certainly here to stay.

***

The two of them rode hard the entire second day, even pushing into dangerous hours of the night this time. Again, they spoke little and Erwin led a fast pace, only stopping a few times to give the horses a break. Truthfully, Levi didn't want to talk, so he was happy for the quick pace-- it was a good excuse… seeing as how you didn't want to accidentally bite your tongue off.

Erwin seemed almost aggressive now, especially with the sun setting, so Levi pulled his horse back a few more meters behind the man and the latter’s fragrance calmed a measure. Levi wasn’t sure if it was his movement that had prompted it. He also supposed, in that moment, that the whole scent thing wasn't all bad. He was getting used to it and it  _ was _ pretty handy, if it worked the way he figured it did. It certainly would make it rather easy to blend into society. If he could ascertain a person's mood by their scent, then he could muddle his way through with their reactions to him. It wouldn't be hard to figure out how he needed to act in order to best slip into the shadows around others. Invisible.

When they stopped to make camp that evening, it was near a small creek where Levi promptly washed and hung his scouts clothes out for the morning. He had forgotten to ask about the water, so he was genuinely relieved for the happenstance. All the while, Erwin remained silent, settling in the horses and kindling a small fire nearby.

“You want to have a fire this late again?” Levi asked, setting out his sleeping mat now necessary five meters away from the man. Erwin's scent was always on now, not nearly as overwhelming as before, but still. Levi’s body was starting to test the waters outside of the fog-- trying to adjust his being to the new normal. 

“It’s fine for a few hours. Put it out before you sleep,” Erwin stated, his blue eyes glazed and overshadowed by heavy dark circles. He looked like the commander half-way through a campaign. “We’re still days ahead of any possible pursuers. And we’re in Syndicate territory.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at the man’s scent and words. Quiet and exhausted for once. Underneath, however, he would sense something brewing. He wasn’t going to mention the odd men in the market. Not now, with the Alpha as on edge as he was. He would just sleep extra lightly for the both of them. “You going to eat? We can boil rice to have with the salted fish.”

“I’m going to scout the area,” Erwin replied, his voice mechanical. Levi wondered just how many personality changes he was going to experience today. He should start a daily record tally. “Don’t wait up. I’ll see you at dawn. Be ready.”

Levi nodded, watching as the man disappeared with shrewd eyes. He wished that he would eat. That would, at the very least, put one small concern of his to rest. He could still smell the man, he could smell his hunger. Both versions of it-- for food and for lust. The arousal was just…  _ there.  _ All the time now. Levi could even smell it on his clothes and in his hair. What a thrill that was going to be, smelling like sex without having had sex. Hopefully they wouldn’t come across too many travelers with working noses. They hadn’t thus far...

As Levi thought, he munched on his salted fish and rice, then cleaned up and double checked his drying clothes. After putting out the meager fire, he forced his tired body, now sore from two days of hard riding, onto his sleeping mat. It took less than a minute for him to drift off to sleep. 

***

Levi dreamed of Petra. This time, she sucked his cock from the edge of the bed, her small hands on his thighs as she took him into her mouth. He groaned lightly as he came down her throat. _He had dreamed of her three times now, was it?_ He couldn’t remember. Regardless, he shook it off as a side-effect of being an Omega and took on the day as normal. 

He and Erwin had seemingly fallen into a routine-- ride hard, silently, and go their separate ways at night after a few meaningless words. Levi was fine with this. More than fine, in fact, because the distance gave him reprieve from the man’s scent. The arousal was becoming more pronounced with each passing minute… not hour. Minute. It was that palatable for Levi's senses that he was growing ever more wearing of it.

And so, sometime during that third day, he began to blame his stupid sex dreams on Erwin's scent, instead of his Omega status. This became especially true when the fourth one rolled in that night, this one far stranger and ambiguous than the ones that had come before.

This time, things did not feel clear to Levi. Everything seemed hazier, much like an actual dream should. He could tell that Petra was licking up the shaft of his cock and he sucked in a quiet breath at the pleasant sensation. He knew it was her without even seeing her shape-- his mind did not need visible proof to know. He felt his gut ache when her tongue went down further, flicking over his balls as her small hand fisted his cock. Levi groaned softly. Then, her soft tongue found his hole and his dark eyes rolled back with euphoric pleasure and he lost himself to the fever dream. Petra’s hands moved up the outside of his thighs, stronger and larger than he remembered, and she pulled him to the edge of the bed by his hips. Her tongue explored deepers and Levi felt incredibly wet from her spit, he could feel it dripping down to the sheets beneath him. His cock pulsed against his abdomen and his face grew flushed as he gulped in breaths of air-- masculine and domineering, not at all what Levi expected from Petra but he didn’t care. He didn’t even think of it, the pleasure of his dream was too intense to think logically. He was in a foggy haze of euphoria.

And then he woke up and reality came crashing back--  _ licking his ass was not something that he had ever- _

_ No.  _ He wasn’t going to think about it, he was just going to blame Erwin. 

Of course he would be having crazy sex dreams-- he was practically bathing in the Alpha’s aroused scent day and night. Even the scouts clothing he now wore was completely saturated in the fragrance, just from being in the Alpha’s vicinity for a day. There was no escaping it at this point… so Levi knew that he had to come to terms with it provoking  _ Omega  _ dreams out of him. He just had to ride it out for a little while longer. Then the sex dreams would go away.

When they made camp tonight, they would be four days into their journey. He was nearly half-way there already.

Slowly, he sat up, ignoring his aching muscles. As he shifted, he felt something slick against his ass. His dark eyes widened and he spun around, jerking the light blanket with him. His sleeping mat had a dark patch. His first instinct was that Petra's spit had somehow manifested in reality... then he started thinking more clearly. Then he nearly vomited from shock, perhaps even slight disgust. He knew it was from him. _From his... hole._ His body had shifted that first night and now, with his new senses growing in, he was getting closer and closer to being a full Omega. Instantly, Levi's panic alarms sounded off, calling forth a string of problems he had previously shelved.

_ When they made camp tonight, they would be four days into their journey. He was nearly half-way there already. _

He whispered it again, repeating it as a mantra as he quickly dealt with the mess, trying to prioritize his problems back to a reasonable fashion. He also shelved the notion that his ass was suddenly getting wet, just as he had shelved other unnecessary things before it. When he got away from Erwin, the problem would stop. He was certain of it. And if it didn't, then he would deal that in turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HiIIIIIIIIIIIII I'm so sorry that this chapter is short and late! Life kinda gets in the way (broke up w/ the bf a few days, no harm it was mutual but still gross to emotionally deal with so I took some time). 
> 
> I'm kinda trying to speed things up a bit, so that may reflect poorly on the chapter, I'm sorry. 
> 
> NExt chapter we'll see a bit of Erwin's side of things as well as a bit of Zackly backstory. And then we'll travel to a nearby city where Levi will bump into a few unexpected people!!!!!!! Cheers and thanks for the patience :) It should be a way longer chapter as well


	8. Journey Part II

**Strange World Chapter Eight: Journey Part II**

**Erwin~**

It wasn't a ripping apart of memories that drove Erwin mad with dread, but a slow, creeping away of them. He knew that he was losing them, but he never knew of what exactly he was missing once it was gone. That was the fucked up part in all of this. It was horrible-- maddening, even. The more he familiarized himself with Levi's presence, the more the memories just slipped away never to be thought of again.

Lost to obscurity, slowly but surely, his mate Mariana would...

_ Ana. That's what he had always called her. _

He had forgotten that, until this moment. Had that memory been lost the moment Levi fell out of the blue sky?

Erwin groaned at the thought, leaning his head back against the bark of the tree, eyes squinting as the sun rose overhead. They had been on the road for four days now and he knew in his heart that he wouldn’t last another one. He was honestly surprised he had made it this far without jumping the small man, as the animal in him hungered to do. He hadn’t slept more than thirty minutes at a time... Not since they had left Trident. That, coupled with the wildly bombastic scent that Levi gave off while he slept, had Erwin nearly pulling out his blonde hair. He was about to crack.

He only had one chance left to win, and that was to stick his cock into an Omega that wasn’t Levi… again. Honestly, he was up for anything that wasn’t his hand or his mind. His damn cock felt raw, it ached even when it brushed up against his soft underclothes.

Shiganshina was nearby. It was the largest urban center between them and the blue woods; the syndicate. Erwin hadn’t planned on stopping there, but plans changed to accommodate troubles, and he was in trouble. There would be sex-workers in Shiganshina, and that was the only weapon he had left to use against fate.

He groaned again, this time rubbing his tired face with his large hands.  _ Was he really that desperate? Was he really willing to risk both Levi’s safety, as his fated mate and an important package, in hopes of preserving Ana? _

“Yes.I am...” he said quietly to himself, feeling more and more defeated with each passing second. In his heart, he knew that it wasn’t going to work. He was going to have to make a choice.

Still, he had to try, give it one last effort before caving to fate. The sun was on the horizon. He knew that the time was coming to face Levi again. Even from where he sat, slumped up against a pine several hundred meters away from the sky-creature, Erwin could smell the Omega’s intoxicating scent. This night had been the worst yet-- the fragrance was almost beckoning him this time. As if Levi was calling out to him. That was terrifyingly new. 

Rising to shaky feet, Erwin trudged back towards the camp at no great speed, dragging his feet as he went. Soon, his thoughts began to scatter under the influence of Levi’s Omega scent, and so he steeled himself with the thought; “go to Shiganshina, go to a brothel.” If he could remember that, perhaps he would make it through another day. 

**Levi~**

Levi felt like he was in a fever dream. He did not remember the particulars of how he had wound up where he was, but he knew that it was best to stay put. He blamed his haze on the dreams he had the previous night. Again, they were vivid, but that wasn’t what the problem had been. If they had been about Petra, he would have been fine. 

They had been about Erwin. Not at first… at first they had been foggy, he did not know who was bringing him pleasure but he knew that he liked it. Then, dream-him opened his eyes and saw things for what they were. Erwin was fucking him, and he was enjoying every minute of it. Worse yet, he was enjoying the emotional connection between them, too.

_ Maybe that was why he submissively let Erwin ditch him in a crowded city… and also promised to wait for the stupid man’s return. _

Thinking about that, Levi shuddered against the cobblestone and forced his thoughts of Erwin into a small lock box, silently refusing to open it again. Then, he brought his mind back into the present. The environment around him, quite frankly, freaked him out. When Erwin had barked earlier that morning about stopping in a town called Shiganshina, Levi had nearly fallen off his horse. Now, seeing how strikingly similar it was to his world’s version, he was struggling to stay on his feet. Though it lacked the walls and the layout was perhaps different, the structures around him had him in a constant state of deja vu. He felt almost at home, and that was an eerie thing to feel.

The scent of the place did his bad mood no favours. It was like a warzone of fragrances, all battling it out for top place in a congested space. In Shiganshina, much like in Trident, Levi witnessed the same bickering and brawling between Alphas, only now he could actually comprehend the scent warfare behind the acts. It made him curious about his own scent and whether it was capable of such a thing.

Squatting down in the dirt, he tucked his body further to the side of a building-- a hat shop, if he was not mistaken. Beyond it lay a large square, with a rather impressive fountain that Levi had never seen before. Shops and market stalls lined the space and the entire square seemed decorated for an event, though Levi knew not what, for colourful ribbons and lanterns entwined around street lamps and fences.

Levi’s curiosity over this was sated when a loud trumpet, followed by a set of drums, erupted around him. Some people in the market began to cheer, while others hurriedly moved temporary cloth stalls out of the way. Levi’s ears perked up and his dark eyes glanced over the scene. Between two large buildings, a parade of people rolled through the square. They wore light clothing stained with rich colours of deep blues and reds, with accents of golden threading. But that wasn’t what impressed Levi… 

It was the creatures that some of them were riding. They were large beasts, grey and with gentle eyes and a trunk. Levi had never seen anything like them before. They were closer in size to titans than to the animals he knew. 

His eyes remained glued to them, uncaring of the crowd around him or the waving figures and flags of the parade. He was certain his mouth was agape as well, but he didn’t care…

Until someone grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him further behind the hat shop. His jaw tensed and his training subconsciously kicked in. In an instant, he had his opponent pushed up against the hard cobblestone of the building.

Then his scent sense kicked in.  _ Omega.  _ Not only an Omega… the scent was so familiar to Levi that he staggered back, leaving the smaller woman to quickly compose herself. Her dark eyes were wide and she poked her head around the corner of the building, as if worried that someone had followed her. Then, she took a step towards him and her black hair swished behind her back, hitting Levi’s nose with notes of pear and mango. Her scent, as pleasant as it was, was also incredibly anxious… not for herself, but for him.

“What do you want,” he said quietly, finding himself more and more on edge. He really wished he knew how to keep other scents from influencing his own emotional state-- that would make things a whole lot easier with Erwin, too.

“Levi…?” The girl replied cautiously, as if testing the name out on him. 

Levi stiffened. He did now know this girl, in this world, or his own. “What do you want,” he said again, this time more sternly.

“It’s not you… I see.”

_ What the fuck- _

The thought was interrupted with an embrace so wholesome that Levi shivered. She felt like… she felt like  _ family.  _ Instinctively, he just knew that she had to be, as if it was the most natural conclusion in the world. He opened his mouth to say as much but the girl cupped his face with small hands, silencing him.

“Do not talk, just listen,” she said, her tone desperate and on edge. She looked over her shoulder again before continuing. “We don’t have much time. They can’t see you here. Do you understand me? They think you’ve run away.” 

"Who-"

“Come and find me-” She faltered, flinching slightly at a loud voice from the square. “Come and find me- my name’s Mira- come and find me the blue woods. That’s where we are hosting the arena…” 

“What are-”

“MIRA!” A booming voice called, followed by another from a different man. Both sent instinctual shivers up Levi’s spine. The owners of the voices were Alphas, and that alone was enough now to set Levi on edge now. He could tell they were furious.

“I have to go.”

“I don’t under-” Levi tried again, only to be interrupted by another round of angry Alpha snarls.

The girl quickly stepped back towards the square, her small body shaking with adrenaline. “Stay there… don’t let them see you!”

Levi did as she told him at first. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but it was likely a combination of things. The desperation in her plea. His promise to wait for Erwin. His instinctive fear of the Alphas. His confusion of the entire situation.

He did not know who the enemy was anymore. He did not know what to do.

Then, a large hand snatched up Mira, dragging her small figure back towards the parade, and Levi stepped forward. His desire to help the girl, someone his…  _ Omega _ … viewed as kin, trumped all other qualms he might have. He stepped forward, creeping quickly around the edge of the cobblestone hat shop to see what was happening. Maybe he could help? He knew his way around a fight and certainly knew his way around fleeing from the enemy…

His dark eyes locked onto Mira’s and she flashed him another look of silent desperation. This time, he obliged, but it was hard for him to do so when he saw a large, burly looking Alpha throw a pair of golden manacles on her small wrists. It became even harder when that same man slapped her hard across the face, sending her sprawling back towards the crowd.

Levi’s hand clenched around the hilt of his broken blade as another large figure, this one also shackled, hurried towards Mira and helped her up with the dusty dirt. Levi froze, right down to the blood in his veins. 

_ Reina? _

He shook his head. Unbelieving and opting for logic.  _ No, it couldn’t be... and if it was, it had to be just a clone of him. Just like Erwin was.  _

He tried his best to convince himself of this in that moment, but then the two of them met eyes and Levi bit his tongue. It was Reina. It was  _ his _ Reina. Levi knew this from the man’s reaction, which was to charge head first like a bull into the crowd of people, snarling and yelling as he pushed through bystanders to get to Levi.

Levi flinched, smelling Reina’s Alpha scent throttling towards him at full speed. It was angry, vicious and confused… it made Levi’s stomach wring itself up into a ball. He honestly wasn’t sure whether his body was readying to fight or to run. Luckily, three large Alphas tackled Reina to the ground, some thirty feet in front of him, so all that was left for him to do was to cower further behind the hat shop. He did so gladly.

He could hear Reina from beyond the stone, hurling what he could only imagine were insults into the air as his captors beat him into the dust. Still, he stayed hidden from sight.

If Levi was being honest with himself, he rather liked the idea of the titan-scum beat into a bloody pulp. Even so, that didn’t make the realization that he wasn’t the only one who had jumped worlds any easier to grasp. If Reina had indeed crossed over with him, then there had to be a way to get back to their own world, right? How was he supposed to ask Reina any of this, especially after Mira’s warning? Not to mention how… hostile Reina had been. He would be lucky to get a single productive word out of the man. 

_ Find me in the blue woods…  _

Mira’s words echoed in Levi’s brain as he crouched down against the back of the shop, feeling the dirt of the alley with his fingertips as he thought. He would find the strangely familiar Mira girl there. And lucky for him, the blue woods was exactly where Erwin was planning on him. At the very least, Levi was glad to have a valid reason to tell himself about why he was still sticking to the emotional Alpha. It certainly wasn’t because he felt an instinctual, sexual connection with the man.. 

It was because he was using the Alpha to get what he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how short/late this chapter was. It was supposed to be a part of the last one, but life got in the way. I hope to get another chapter out either today or tomorrow!!
> 
> Thanks for the patience, I've had an insanely busy month and the slow updates will likely continue for a while :( Sorry guys! 
> 
> Next chapter: Erwin and Levi get attacked by some unsuspected foes and Erwin is forced to come to terms with reality! Then we'll get some smut >:) 
> 
> Ummm, I'm also gonna be doing less editing on the chapters going forward so expect more grammatical mistakes going forward. I hope that okay w/ ya'll! It eases things on my end and means I can get chapters out faster :D


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